High Voltage
by Kaden Amano
Summary: A prophecy shows that all three worlds are in danger. The Reikai Tantei need the help of an Egyptian half-demon named Teilen, who has a dark past and problems of her own. Personalities will clash! Everyone goes to Egypt to save the three worlds. CH11 UP!
1. Prologue

**~High Voltage~**

. . .

**Prologue:**

. . .

All was quiet in the dark hall. Not one thing stirred; there was nobody present. From the ceiling, a shadow dropped down to the floor, just barely visible in the darkness. If one hadn't known it would happen, it wouldn't have been seen at all. 

It crept along the wall, slinking carefully but quickly; nobody would notice even if there were gaurds there.

_ 'No gaurds, not even one. Wexas,'_ it thought as it approached the vault. _'Not that any gaurds would be useful to them now anyhow.'_ Placing one hand on the vault, it expertly entered the correct number combination--one would think it had done this many times before--and a minute later, the vault door slowly swung open without making a sound. Perfect. Still nothing but another shadow in the darkness, the unrecognizable being darted into the safe, carefully stepping over, under, and around the thin red lines coming from the ceiling and the walls. 

What a dull night. After snatching what it was after--a small, cloudy green cube the glowed softly in the dark--it decided to liven up the area a bit. 

After all, if you're fool enough to leave a vault full of priceless items unguarded, you can't expect that it won't be broken into.

It left the vault, letting the door slam on the way out, but also deliberately brushing one of the lasers. Almost immediately after the vault door shut and locked, a loud alarm went off. A combination of long beeps and wails. 

_'Annoying.'_

Shaking its head, the shadow raised its wrist to the ceiling, shooting a grappling hook from the contraption on its arm to the top, at the vents it had used to enter the building. The dark figure shot upwards, pulled by the grappling hook, just as a dozen demon guards came running into the room.

One of them pressed a button, which filled the entire room with a bright light.

"What's going on here?" Another roared.

"I don't know!" The first one shot back. "Something must be wrong with the alarm, there's nothing here!"

"No," said a third, sniffing the air. "Somebody was here." His expression turned to a snarl. "It smells human."

"Where?" Asked a fourth.

"...Gone," answered the third. His gaze traveled up, to the line of vents at the top of the walls. There was no trace of anyone ever having been there at all.

The shadow landed neatly on its two feet at the bottom of the hill. Turning back, it looked at the building it had just escaped from moments ago. It was now nearly a mile away, and the shadow could see lights starting to come on inside the building.

Time to go.

Turning the small cube over in its hand, the shadow allowed a smirk to cross its face. It then turned back and fled into the forest.

. . .

Translations:

_"Wexa"_ -- "Fool"

AN: well, that was the prologue. This is my first real Yu-Yu Hakusho fic that isn't a crossover or anything, so I don't know if I'll to a good job keeping everyone in character, but I'll try. I think I've got a method that works pretty well. Anyway, I definitely need to come up with a better title than the one I have now. I always have the most trouble with titles *sigh* oh well. Please, do tell me what you think of my fic so far!


	2. The Mission

**~High Voltage~**  
  
. . .

_Chapter One: The __Mission_  
. . .

  
  
Yusuke Urameshi walked along, hands in his pockets, staring at the ground. He wasn't in a terrible hurry; after all, he was already over an hour late for school, so why rush now? He had actually planned to get to school on time for once, but as he had rolled out of bed at eight-thirty that morning, that plan had been shot. It looked like he was going to catch it from Keiko again. Oh well.  
  
Yusuke kicked a small stone, and watched as it skipped down the sidewalk ahead of him and finally came to a stop. He walked up to to it and was about to kick it again when he felt something poke his shoulder.  
  
Nearly jumping three feet in surprise, Yusuke whirled around to face the one responsible.  
  
"Botan?" He blinked.  
  
"Hello, Yusuke," she replied cheerfully.  
  
"Don't do that!"  
  
"Oh, don't get all upset," she waved a hand. "I see you're running a bit late."  
  
"Hah! I'll say. ...What are you doing here, anyway?"  
  
"Well, Yusuke, I've been sent to tell you that Koenma has a new mission for you," she anwered. "It seemed pretty important."  
  
"What? Another mission?" Yusuke groaned. "Come on, I just finished that stupid Dark Tournament! Don't I ever get a break?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Yusuke," Botan appologized. "But after all, I'm just the messanger. You'll have to take it up with Koenma--by the way, he needs to see you as soon as possible. Is right now a good time?"  
  
Yusuke sighed. "As good as any."  
  
"Great! Now what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Botan grabbed Yusuke's arm, and they were off.  
  
. . .

  
  
Yusuke stepped inside Koenma's office and immediately noticed the ones in the room. Koenma sat at his desk, while the blue ogre stood over him looking a little nervous. Kurama was standing a few feet away from them. Hiei was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, looking bored. Kuwabara was pacing the room impatiently.  
  
"Koenma Sir, I'm back," Botan announced from behind Yusuke.  
  
"This better be good," Yusuke told Koenma.  
  
Koenma shifted his gaze to the young Spirit Detective. "Oh, it's good all right. Now listen up, everyone. This mission is very important. As you may or may not know, last night another precious item was stolen from--"  
  
"Here we go again," Yusuke broke in. "It's like the Hiei and Kurama thing all over again, isn't it?"  
  
"Not quite. You see, whoever has stolen the item is a master thief who's been at it for years. Nobody has ever seen this person. For years, priceless items have turned up missing from various places in Spirit World."  
  
"Yes, I've heard of this," Kurama threw in. "I believe they call this person the 'Shadow', as nobody knows his--or her--name."  
  
"Hn," came a grunt from the corner.  
  
Kurama turned around. "What do you make of this, Hiei? Is it possible that you know something we don't?"  
  
"What gives you that idea?" He snorted in reply.  
  
"A-hem," Koenma cleared his throat, and once again he had their undivided attention. "Anyway, you're right about that, Kurama. Apparently this person IS known as the Shadow. Very dangerous, or so I've heard. Nobody who has ever crossed paths with him has ever lived to tell about it."  
  
"So let me guess--you want us to catch this guy, right?" Yusuke shoved his hands into his pockets.  
  
"Oh, great guess, Yusuke," Koenma said with a roll of his eyes. His expression then changed to a more serious one. "But I have to warn you: this won't be an easy task. Others like you have tried and failed, and they were a lot more experienced then you are. To be completely--yet brutally--honest, I have to tell you that there is a good chance you could be killed on this mission."  
  
"Koenma Sir!" Botan cried out in shock. "If he's going to be risking his life that much, then why are you sending him?"  
  
"I really don't have much of a choice, Botan," Koenma answered. "If I don't send him now, there are going to be a lot of problems in the future."  
  
"Problems? Like what?"  
  
Koenma shook his head. "Now that I can't tell you right now." He fixed his gaze on Yusuke. "You must find the Shadow and get him to come here, Yusuke. It's very important. I know that you could possibly lose your life in the process, but I also know that you have a much better chance of pulling this off now than you did before the Dark Tournament. At that time your chances would have been slim to none, but now that you have Genkai's power you actually stand a chance--especially with Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara at your side.  
  
"Now, I've given a few different items to Botan; she's going to assist you as well. They may come in handy. Unfortunately, I can't tell you where to start looking for the Shadow--you'll have to get Hiei to help you with that one."  
  
"Hn," came another grunt from the corner.  
  
"Another thing," Koenma continued, "It's very important that the Shadow arrives here in one piece. Don't kill him, Hiei."  
  
"I won't if I can help it," Hiei replied with a scowl.   
  
Koenma sat back in his chair. "All right, Yusuke, you five are on your own from here. There's nothing more that I can tell you that will be of any help."  
  
"Koenma Sir," Botan began. "You mean the only thing you know is this guy's name and the fact that he's a master thief?"  
  
"I'm afraid so," Koenma admitted. "At this point we don't even know if the Shadow is a demon or a human; from the amount of information we have, he could be either. In fact, we don't even know for sure whether the Shadow is male or female. Like I said, nobody has ever seen him."  
  
"Oh dear," Botan sighed.  
  
"My sentiments exactly," Kurama commented.  
  
"I don't see what you guys are all worked up for," Yusuke, always the confident one, turned around and prepared to leave. "After all, how bad can one little crook be? Don't worry Koenma, we'll catch this guy and have him up here in no time." He turned to wink at Koenma, who just sighed as the others prepared to leave as well.  
  
"That's right, Urameshi," Kuwabara agreed. "That little punk won't know what hit him!"  
  
Koenma shook his head as he watched them go. "I hope you're right, Yusuke."  
  
____  
  
AN: Well, that was chapter one! How'd I do? Reviews are greatly appreciated!]  
  
_Next chapter: The Search_


	3. The Search

**~High Voltage~**  
. . .

_Chapter Two: The Search_  
. . .

  
  
The Shadow was a light sleeper, who woke up at the slightest sound or motion. Having no home to speak of, the Shadow often slept in trees, secluded in the forest where it could not be discovered. Being discovered was not something the Shadow could afford...  
  
It's eyes snapped open. Gazing at the scenery around it and recalling what had happened the night before, the Shadow sat up and reached into its belt pouch for the small green cube it had stolen the night before. Examining the object carefully, the Shadow hoped that this item was the one it had been searching for all these years. But how to activate this little cube and access the power within?  
  
The Shadow placed the cube on its palm and watched it closely. Mists in various shades of green began to swirl around inside as the cube began to glow again. Suddenly an image formed from the swirling mists; a person. The Shadow recognized the person at once. Behind the person was a stone wall, that of a dungeon. Two chains hung high on the wall, and the person suddenly began to back away from an unknown threat. But the Shadow knew what it was. The Shadow watched without flinching as the mystical cube replayed an event from the past; as the person in the cube was hung from the chains on the wall. Watched as the person in the cube was tortured--burned, whipped, electrocuted, beaten--while uttering not one sound. Teeth clenched, body tense and stiff, eyes burning with hatred and determination, receiving every blow and acting as though it was nothing.  
  
But it was all an act. The Shadow knew all too well the extent of pain this person had gone through. Just because one can endure pain better than most does not mean it will hurt any less. The image disappeared as the Shadow looked away, not wanting to view anymore. This cube did have incredible power, as the rumors had said.  
  
However, this was not the object the Shadow was after.  
  
"Useless," the Shadow muttered, placing it back into the belt pouch along with the numerous other priceless items that had been stolen over the years. It would appear that the Shadow was now back to square one.  
  
. . .  
  
"So what did this Shadow guy steal, anyway?" Yusuke wondered as the group wandered through the deep woods of Spirit World.  
  
"What, you mean besides the other two hundred sixty-five priceless magical objects that have mysteriously disappeared within the past four years?" Botan asked from behind him.  
  
"Uh...yeah," he answered.  
  
"This time the Shadow stole the Cyun Cube--an item that enables the user to look back on moments of his or her past that have been forgotten, such as the cause of a certain fear or trauma, or events that have been blocked from the mind."  
  
"So it does the same thing as hypnosis?"  
  
"Well...sort of." Botan sighed. Close enough.  
  
"This is really stupid," Kuwabara complained from the back of the group, where he was stuck carrying the big bag Botan had brought along. "We look like a bunch of dorks, following Shorty through the woods like this. And why do I have to carry this stuff?"  
  
"Just quit complaining, Kuwabara," Yusuke told him. "I mean, if that bag is too heavy for you I would gladly take over," he said with a smirk.  
  
"No way, Urameshi!" Kuwabara clutched the bag to his chest as if Yusuke was going to try to take it from him.   
  
"Any luck, Hiei?" Kurama asked from ahead of Yusuke.   
  
Hiei's eyes narrowed; he was obviously irritated at having to play the hound dog for the group. "No," he replied shortly.  
  
"Well, maybe this will help," Botan reached into her jacket pocket and withdrew an object that looked similar to a watch. "Remember your old demon compass, Yusuke?"  
  
"You mean the one that blew up? Tch. Yeah, a lot of help that was," he answered.  
  
"This one is an improved version of your last one," she continued. "It was made to track certain demons like the Shadow; if he's a demon. Here, why don't you try it?"  
  
"I guess it couldn't hurt," Yusuke shrugged and took it from her.  
  
"Hn. You think that's going to help?"  
  
"It's worth a try." Yusuke glanced at Hiei, remembering what had happened with the other demon compass. He stared down at the new one. "Whoa! This thing is going crazy, Botan. Are you sure it's working right?"  
  
"Either that or there are tons of demons just like the Shadow around here," she replied. "And somehow I doubt the latter is true."  
  
From the front of the group, Hiei scowled. He disliked wandering the woods endlessly when he had better things to do. If he hadn't had the rest of them here slowing him down, he'd have located this 'Shadow' by now--probably killed him, too. A slight smirk crossed his face as he thought of this. Koenma wanted this person alive, but sometimes things just...happen.  
  
. . .  
  
The Shadow hadn't moved from the spot in the tree all morning, contemplating what the next move should be. The Cyun Cube had not been helpful at all, but the Shadow had decided to keep it for future reference. Besides, what was the point in returning it now?  
  
The Shadow thought of a substance it had heard rumors about--the Dein Water. Kept inside a small vial made of saphire, it was said that the water could release one's hidden power as well as immortalize whoever drank it. The Shadow was not after immortal life, having no desire to live for all eternity and eventually wish for an unattainable death. However, this was something that could always be used as a last resort... Suddenly the Shadow stiffened. Standing up, it gazed off in the direction the spirit energy it sensed was coming from. Someone--no, there were more than one. They were searching for the Shadow. This was not an uncommon occurrence, though--many others had tried to apprehend the thief in the past. Tried and failed.  
  
'Let _them come. I'll rather enjoy killing them,'_ it thought. 'I _could use some practice--I've become a bit soft lately.'_ Letting a smirk cross its face, the Shadow decided to play a little game with the ones fool enough to seek out a match with a formidable adversary whose previous opponents had not lived to tell of.  
  
. . .  
  
_Next chapter: The Hunt...The Game_  
  
AN: Sorry, I know these chapters have been short. They'll get longer as the story progresses, I promise.


	4. The Hunt The Game

**~High Voltage~**  
. . .

_Chapter Three: The Hunt...The Game_  
. . .

  
Yusuke stared at the demon compass, completely bewildered. It had been going nuts a few seconds ago, and now all of a sudden the arrow was pointing north-east as if nothing had happened.  
  
"I don't get it," he said to nobody in particular. "Is it working or not?"  
  
"What are you mumbling about, Urameshi?" Kuwabara wondered.  
  
"This stupid demon compass doesn't work," Yusuke replied. He was about to toss it away when he heard something--a voice, in his head:   
  
_'I wouldn't say that,'_ it said.  
  
"What? ...You know, maybe it's just my imagination but I could have sworn I just heard something." He shook his head as the others gave him strange looks.  
  
'How about it? You up to a little game, Yusuke?'  
  
"How do you know my name?" Yusuke yelled, looking around frantically for the source of the voice. The others stopped and turned to watch him.  
  
_ 'You're not going to find me that way.'_  
  
"Ah! I heard it too!" Kuwabara cried out. He looked at Kurama and Hiei. "Did you guys hear that?"  
  
"Yes," Kurama answered.   
  
_ 'I'll make it easier for you. ...Use your little toy...if you're sure you really want to find what you're looking for, that is.'  
_  
"Boy, that's kinda creepy," Kuwabara remarked.  
  
"Oh, I bet we're supposed to be scared, huh?" Yusuke yelled again, though he really had no idea to whom he was yelling at, or where for that matter. "Well, we're coming for you!" He waited a few minutes, but there was no reply.  
  
"Well, now we know that the Shadow is telepathic," Botan observed. "But we may want to be extra careful. The Shadow knows we're coming for him, and he's going to be waiting for us. We'll most likely be walking right into a trap."  
  
"Ah, he's not so scary!" Kuwabara said. "He sounds like a sissy! I bet he's just trying to scare us off 'cause he knows we're a lot stronger than him!"  
  
"I don't think so," Kurama disagreed. "While that is a possibility, I don't believe we should underestimate this 'Shadow' character. Botan has a good point; from what we've heard about him, he could very well be leading us into a trap."  
  
"Well, what does it matter?" Yusuke shrugged. "He's just making our job that much easier. He'll lead us to him, so now all we have to do is get him to come with us."  
  
"You think that's going to be easy?" Hiei eyed him. "What makes you believe that this 'Shadow' character is going to come quietly?"  
  
"He will if he knows what's good for him," Kuwabara answered. "Nobody wants to mess with Kazuma Kuwabara, 'cause they know they'll get beat up!"  
  
"Would you care to test that theory?"  
  
"Shut up, Shrimp, or I'll hit you so hard it--it'll hurt so bad, it'll hurt...really bad!"  
  
"Man, Kuwabara, is that the best you could come up with?" Yusuke stared at Kuwabara, holding back a laugh. "That's really pathetic."  
  
"I have to concur, it is rather sad," Kurama agreed.  
  
"What do you guys know anyway?" Kuwabara mumbled.  
  
"All right boys, shouldn't we be looking for the Shadow?" Botan interrupted.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Kuwabara shifted the bag in his arms. "It'd be a heck of a lot easier to carry this thing if it had straps..."  
  
They continued the long walk through the forest, following the direction of the demon compass Yusuke was carrying, knowing that they would be walking into a trap but realizing that they had no other choice.  
  
. . .  
  
The Shadow laughed silently as it leaped from tree limb to tree limb, leading the Spirit Detective and his friends deeper and deeper into the forest, having some fun with them. The Shadow never liked killing its victims immediately. Actually the honest truth was, the Shadow didn't enjoy killing at all. Being responsibe for the end of one's life was not something that most were proud of, and on top of that killing was often rather messy. But there was no other choice--when somebody was tracking down the Shadow, there was nothing else to be done but kill.  
  
But this Spirit Detective, Yusuke Urameshi, he was different. The Shadow had heard many things about him, and had also watched him fight in the Dark Tournament. He posessed an incredible power--nothing like the Shadow, but he would make a worthy opponent nonetheless. The Shadow had decided not to kill Yusuke Urameshi from the shadows right away, like it usually did with any other imbecile who was fool enough to come searching for it. Instead, the Shadow was going to fight the Spirit Detective; to see just how tough this kid really was, to satisfy a curiousity, and to answer the one nagging question: "Can he beat me?"  
  
The Shadow was pretty certain it already knew the answer to this question, but still...it had never fought anyone quite like this kid. He was very unique. The Shadow could understand why every demon in Spirit World wanted a piece of him.  
  
The Shadow landed on a tree limb and paused, making sure that Yusuke Urameshi and his friends were still following. They were, and now they were approximately three miles away. Now to find the perfect spot to do battle...  
  
. . .  
  
"We've been walking around for hours," Yusuke announced. "I bet this guy is just having fun with us all because he knows where we are and we have no idea where he is. This is so stupid!"  
  
"Now don't get angry, Yusuke," Botan said, still with a cheerful attitude. "I'm sure we can't be too far from the Shadow now."  
  
"She's right," Kurama said. "We're getting closer. The Shadow is leading us into the deepest part of the forest; probably to a spot suitable for a fight to take place."  
  
_'I see you're a smart one, Kurama.'_  
  
They all stopped as they heard the Shadow's voice inside their heads again. Yusuke clenched his fists.  
  
"You know, you're really starting to tick me off! When I find you, I'll--" He stopped, suddenly remembering that they weren't supposed to kill the Shadow.  
  
_'Wexa,'_ the Shadow responded. _'You don't need to worry about "finding" me. I already told you I would lead you to where I am.'_  
  
"Why are you doing this?"  
  
_'Why? I could avoid you, if you prefer.'_  
  
"There's no use avoiding us!" Kuwabara yelled. "We're gonna get you no matter how far you run, you little punk!"  
  
_ 'Do you really believe that?'_ They heard the Shadow laugh quietly; a laugh of contempt and scorn with just the hint of malice. _'You must be that half-wit, Kuwabara.'  
_  
"Hey! I am not!" Kuwabara protested.  
  
"You still haven't answered my question," Yusuke said. "If you know we're after you, then why are you leading us to you?"  
  
'I haven't had a suitable opponent in years. Besides, I could use a bit of...entertainment.'  
  
"Fine! But if we beat you, then you're coming with us!" Yusuke yelled back. He waited a few seconds for an answer. "Do we have deal?"  
  
After a minute it spoke again. 'I don't make deals. And if you're going to stand around all day and waste my time talking, then don't bother coming. If you want me, then come and get me. But be prepared to die. I don't leave any survivors.'  
  
"Just who do you think you are? You don't scare me!" Kuwabara retorted when he was sure the Shadow wasn't listening anymore.  
  
Yusuke eyed him. "Is that why your legs are shaking, Kuwabara?"  
  
Kuwabara looked down at his wobbling knees. "Shut up, Urameshi, I'm just cold!"  
  
"It's sixty degrees out here."  
  
_'Enough.'_ They were surprised to hear the Shadow's voice again. _'Do you see that log about one hundred feet ahead? Just beyond that is where I'll be waiting for you. Quit wasting time.'_  
  
"I see it," Yusuke said. "Let's go." They began to run towards the spot that the Shadow had told them about, Yusuke leading the way and Botan bringing up the rear, all of them mentally preparing for the upcoming fight in one way or another. They jumped over the log and found themselves in a small clearing surrounded by trees, the only light coming from above where it peeked in through the leaves.  
  
"We're here!" Yusuke yelled. "Now show yourself!"  
  
. . .  
  
_Next chapter: Meet The Shadow_


	5. Meet The Shadow

**~High Voltage~**  
. . .  
_Chapter Four: Meet The Shadow_  
. . .  
  
Yusuke clenched his fists and spread his feet shoulder-length apart. "All right Shadow, come on out!"  
  
"Is that what they call me?" This time the Shadow didn't use telepathy.  
  
"He's here," Kuwabara said.  
  
"What a brilliant observation," the Shadow commented, still hidden in the trees. They couldn't figure out where the voice was coming from. "But you're not entirely correct..." Suddenly a black figure dropped from one of the limbs of the tree in front of them. It landed on its two feet, one hand planted on the ground, and slowly rose. Even in the daylight, the Shadow remained a shadow--dressed completely in black. The black cloak covered nearly all of its face, and the rest was hidden in the shadow of the hood.  
  
Kuwabara suddenly laughed out loud. "Hey everybody, that guy is just a kid!" He pointed to the Shadow. "Look, he's as short as Hiei!"  
  
"Wrong again, you brainless wexa," the Shadow spat back. Its voice was cold and bitter. With one quick motion, the Shadow lifted one hand and threw off the black cloak.  
  
"Whoa!" Kuwabara was startled by the face beneath the cloak. "Shadow is--he's--he's a girl!"  
  
The Shadow turned to face them. "It would be in your best interest to watch what you call me--I just might make your death even more painful."   
  
Indeed, the Shadow was definitely female--there was no mistaking that fact. She stood there so confidently, knowing that she could beat them. Her thin hair was dark, with a tint of red, and came down to her bare shoulders. Her eyes were dark, cold and hard. Her attire told them that she was neither self-conscious nor fashion conscious; her outfit was black, the top was strapless and exposed her well-toned midriff. It looked as though the bottom of the shirt had been ripped off, probably to be used as a make-shift bandage at one time. Her pants were baggy, loose, but dangerously low. A thick belt held them in place at her hips. On her feet, she wore black boots, military style, that came up to just below her knees. As she stood watching them, they noticed the long scar on her neck; it started just below her right ear and ended just above her collar bone.   
  
"So," she began, "this is the famous Spirit Detective, Yusuke Urameshi." She gave them an malicious grin, and Kuwabara shuddered involuntarily. "It's about time you showed up. Such a shame to have to kill another one of Koenma's errand boys."  
  
"You know, you criminals are all the same," Yusuke said. "You stand there and brag about how great you are, but in the end it's always the same."  
  
"I don't believe that stating a fact can be classified as bragging, Spirit Detective," the Shadow retorted without raising her voice. "I can understand your impatience, though I don't know why you've come here. It's not for a fight; I can tell. So what is it you want from me?" She stared at him with those cold eyes, as if looking through him.  
  
"We're here to get you to come with us," Yusuke answered.  
  
The Shadow smirked, amused. "Just what makes you think I would go along with this?"  
  
"I thought you might say that. That's why we're prepared to fight you." Yusuke began to gather his spirit energy.  
  
"This is a waste of time," she glared at them. "You and your friends--Kurama, Kuwabara, Hiei," her gaze shifted to each individual as she said their names. "--you can fight me all day if you want but I won't be agreeing to go anywhere with you. If you want me to go with you, then you'll have to kill me first."  
  
"If that's the way you want it, then it can be arranged," Hiei shot back, narrowing his eyes at her.   
  
The Shadow fixed her dark eyes on the fire demon. "Well, if you honestly think you have what it takes to defeat me, then go right ahead and try. But I won't show you any mercy when you're begging for it."  
  
"Don't think for one second that I'm going to be a push-over. Underestimating me will be the last mistake you ever make." Hiei stepped forward, ready to fight.  
  
. . .  
  
_Next chapter: Hiei vs The Shadow_  
  
AN: Yeah, this is getting good! I love Hiei fights, they're always so good. I'm afraid I may not do him justice in this next chapter, though, but I'll give it my best shot.


	6. Hiei vs The Shadow

**~High Voltage~**  
  
. . .  
_Chapter Five: Hiei vs The Shadow  
_. . .

  
  
The Shadow smirked as she watched Hiei step forward. In one quick motion, he had thrown off his cloak, not seeming to care where it landed.  
  
"This should be interesting," she said.  
  
Hiei scowled. "Go ahead, the first move is yours. If I were you, I'd make it a good one."  
  
The Shadow narrowed her eyes at him. "If that's how you want it." And suddenly she was gone.  
  
"What the--" Kuwabara blinked. "Where'd she go?"  
  
"In the air," Kurama told him. They all looked up.  
  
"I didn't even see her jump," Kuwabara said, looking shocked. "I wonder if Hiei saw it?"  
  
"He did," Kurama answered. "He's watching her every move."  
  
It was true, Hiei was able to follow the Shadow's movements quite easily, as her speed was surpassed only by him. But not by a whole lot. He prepared himself as she dove towards him, fist outstretched. Just before she was able to hit him, he jumped nimbly to the side. Missing her target, the Shadow flipped herself over in the air and landed neatly on her feet. She got up just in time to see Hiei come flying at her, fist full of energy, and she back flipped high into the air to avoid it. Landing on a tree, she ran down it and jumped at him. Her kick would have been lethal if he hadn't dodged it, which he did. The fight went on like this, both fighters dodging each other's attacks fairly easily, and the others trying to keep their eyes on the blurs that were Hiei and the Shadow.  
  
Hiei leaped back after trying to kick her, and then they both charged at each other at the same time, fists drawn back and ready to strike; she hit him on the left side of his face, and he sunk his fist into her abdomen. After taking the hit, they each were sent flying backwards, flipping over and landing on their feet.  
  
"_Nen bin_. I actually felt that one," the Shadow remarked, finding herself a bit short of breath. She wiped her chin with the back of her hand.  
  
"Hn. You may be worth my time after all," Hiei replied, also breathing harder.  
  
Without another word, the Shadow raised her right arm, palm facing upwards. Hiei watched as a small blue orb of energy appeared in her hand, and then extended to form a long, thin object that resembled a pole except for the fact that it was made of spirit energy.  
  
Hiei quickly withdrew his sword and held it ready. The Shadow didn't waste any time. She immediately rushed forward and swung the pole at him, aiming for one of his vital points. Hiei quickly noted that she knew exactly where to hit somebody, therefore he shouldn't let his gaurd down even for a second. He swung the sword upwards to block the hit, and was surprised to feel himself get a shock when his sword connected with her weapon. He flew backwards and crashed into a tree.  
  
_ 'Electricity,'_ he thought to himself as he stood up off the ground. He flew at her, expertly swinging his sword at her at the exact right moment. The Shadow blocked most of the hit, but his sword grazed her right shoulder, forcing her to step back a bit. She knew she couldn't let him get that close again... Once again, the fight remained the same for a while longer, only since they had weapons this time they occasionally got a cut or scrape.   
  
Sword and spirit pole clashed together once more, and both fighters leaped back. Hiei wanted to try using his Dragon of the Darkness Flame attack on her, but he remembered that Koenma wanted the Shadow alive. Damn. He would have to settle for something else... He reached up and tore off the white headband that covered his Jagan Eye. His third eye opened, glowing blue. The Shadow watched him with interest, leaning on her spirit pole.  
  
_ 'So he can look up and down at the same time, big deal,'_ she thought to herself.  
  
"I'm not finished," Hiei told her, which was a surprise because she hadn't realized he was telepathic.  
  
"So finish," she shot back.   
  
He didn't reply; instead, he closed his eyes and she watched as he began to change. First, eyes appeared all over his body. They began to glow red as his skin turned green, his eyes turned yellow, he grew fangs and claws, and his ears pointed. He opened his eyes and gave her an evil smirk.  
  
She was a little surprised—she hadn't expected this from him. Then she smirked back at him, making a decision. "Well, since we're changing our appearances..." She began to gather all her spirit energy, which took a few minutes but nobody seemed to mind. She rose up into the air, surrounded by a blue aura. Then something strange began to happen. The sky began to darken dramatically until the clouds above them were a very dark gray color. Thunder began to roll very loudly above them, and lightning flashed dozens of times. Suddenly a huge lightning bolt struck the Shadow, but she didn't seem to be hurt by it.  
  
Kurama realized what was going on. "She's drawing energy from the electricity," he informed the others.  
  
The lightning began to strike over and over, and then began to strike many times at once; all of it being pulled into the Shadow's body. Everyone watched in shock as a brilliant ball of blue, white and purple colored lightning encompassed the Shadow, hiding her from view. Gradually, the giant ball began to disappear as it was sucked into her body, and everyone could then see the transformation that had taken place.  
  
Her skin had turned from a natural-looking tan to a soft light blue color. Her hair was now considerably longer and a luminous silver color, matching her eyes, which were speckled gold. But the biggest change in her was how much stronger she had become. Her power was incredible.  
  
"Oh my God!" Kuwabara cried out, suddenly very thankful that he wasn't the one fighting. "We're doomed!"  
  
"It can't be," Kurama blinked. "How can one person have that much power?"  
  
The Shadow, who didn't resemble a shadow at all anymore, stared back at Hiei, matching the evil smirk he had given her minutes ago. "Would you care to test my power, Hiei?" Her voice was different than before—still cold and hard as ice, but now it seemed to be echoing a little. A wave of lightning crackled down her entire body from head to foot.  
  
Hiei gave her a death glare, and began to reconsider not using the Dragon of the Darkness Flame.  
  
The Shadow shot one arm into the air, fingers spread apart, and began to prepare for an attack. Streaks of white and blue lightning rushed toward each one of her fingertips, and the energy gathered into the palm of her hand, eventually forming an orb the size of a basketball.  
  
Hiei saw her doing this, and immediately made up his mind. A small red orb appeared in his own hand as his Jagan Eye glowed blue.  
  
The orb in the Shadow's hand was now crackling with lightning and energy colored blue, white, purple, and silver. She brought up her other hand to help hold it steady. She looked at Hiei and spoke two words in another language that nobody understood: "_Me-te lel ne tew_."  
  
Just as she let the orb go flying at Hiei, Hiei unleashed the Dragon of the Darkness Flame at the same time. Everybody held their breath and watched, wondering if either of them would survive this. In a brilliant flash of white light, both dragon and lightning energy collided with each other. The power of the collision sent both fighters, along with the bystanders, flying in all directions...  
  
The flashes of light eventually subsided. Kurama was the first to pick himself off the ground. He gazed at the scenery around him, not seeing any sign of either fighter. What he did see was a tremendous crater the size of a football field right where they both had been standing.  
  
"What...happened...?" Yusuke wondered as he got up. He had crashed headfirst into a tree, and was a little unsteady as he brushed leaves and tiny twigs out of his hair.  
  
"The two attacks must have cancelled each other out," Kurama said.  
  
"So...where's Hiei?" Kuwabara asked, looking around. "I don't see that little punk anywhere."  
  
"I'm not sure what happened to them," Kurama answered. A noise in the trees made them look up. They watched as Hiei emerged, looking a little sore. He saw the destruction, and waited to see if the Shadow would appear as well. Hiei wasn't disappointed, because a moment later she proved herself still alive; emerging from beneath a pile of rocks and broken tree limbs. She made her way back to the battle site, noticably limping although trying to hide it.  
  
Hiei took one look at her and scowled. "This fight is over," he said.  
  
"_Ne-me_?" The Shadow raised her eyebrows in surprise. How could he know...? 'Fight it, fight it,' she thought desperately. It was no use. She felt herself return to her human form. A second later, her eyes closed and she slowly fell to her knees, slumpin  
  
g to the ground.  
  
Kurama nodded. "So he did know."  
  
"Know what?" Yusuke asked him.  
  
"The Shadow used up nearly all of her spirit energy just changing into her demon form. She had barely enough left for one attack, so she used one that could destroy all of us at the same time. Hiei figured it out and was able to counter her attack, knowing that she would have nothing left afterwards," he explained.  
  
"So is she dead?" Kuwabara asked. "That's not supposed to happen, remember?"  
  
"Not dead," Hiei said as he made his way back to the group. "Unconscious." He was back in his human form. He picked his cloak up off the ground and put it back on.  
  
"I guess now we take her to Koenma," Yusuke said with shrug.  
  
  
  
. . .  
  
Translations:  
  
_Ne-me_ -- "what?"  
  
_Nen bin_ -- "not bad"  
  
AN: well that went better than I thought it would. And yay, Hiei won! Of course he won, why wouldn't he? I'd hate having a character that was unbeatable. Anyway, if anyone reads this could you please review? It would make me feel so much better...  
  
By the way, _Me-te lel ne tew_ means "death come to you" but I won't say what language it is yet...  
  
_Next chapter: The Deal_


	7. The Deal

**~High Voltage~**  
. . .

_Chapter 6: The Deal  
_. . .

  
  
_A child wandered down the dark hallways of what looked to be some sort of old fortress, limping. Trying to hide the pain, for she had other things to worry about. The hallways were never-ending; it was like a maze. She wondered if she would ever get out. They would find her before she escaped.  
  
_'No.'_ She shook that thought out of her head._ 'Mustn't give up.'_ There had to be a way out. She continued on down the hall, walking at a faster pace. She turned right, then left, then right, not knowing the correct way out. The place was just so huge...she had never been this far before...  
  
She turned around the next corner and then something caused her to stop dead in her tracks. Her eyes slowly traveled upwards, gazing upon the obstacle in her path. A large demon, probably a lower-class one by the looks of him, was glaring down at her.  
  
_"How'd you get out, kid?"_ He grabbed her arm, squeezing it hard.   
  
She bit her lip to keep from crying out. With her other hand, she collected a purple and blue colored energy and hurled it at him. She watched as the demon received a large shock, causing him to loose his grip on her. But it was useless.  
  
_ "Damn! You brat!"_ He raised a hand and brought it down hard across her face, sending her flying backwards. _"It's back to the cell for you!"_ He strode back over to her and grabbed her by the neck, forcing her to her feet.   
  
A few minutes later, the young girl was thrown back into a small, cube-like prison, bouncing across the floor until she hit the wall on the opposite side and came to an abrupt stop. She watched him leave her, securing the barriers that kept her inside. Her eyes burned with hatred.  
  
Someday.  
  
Someday she was going to get strong enough to escape. She would take revenge on all of them; she would kill them for what they had done to her._  
  
. . .

  
  
She woke up with a start, eyes flying open and sitting up fast. The first thing she felt was a cold cement floor beneath her, and then a head rush from sitting up too fast. That, however, was the least of her problems. She stood up slowly and cautiously, not sure where she was. The solid steel walls on three sides of her suggested that she was in some sort of prison. The fourth wall was a transparent barrier. It was dark and she couldn't see much.  
  
...There had been a fight...hadn't there?  
  
Yes. She remembered it quite clearly now. The Spirit Detective and his comrades had come to find her and she had fought Hiei, the short one, although technically he was just the slightest bit taller than she was. They must have brought her here. Why hadn't they killed her?  
  
She stepped up to examine the barrier. It had been created using some sort of energy; she would be able to break through it as soon as she recovered all of her spirit energy. That would take a lot more time. She didn't know how long she had been unconscious, but she was still very weak. If she were to fight again, she wouldn't stand a chance. She regretted her decision to transform in battle. She had known at the time that it was a stupid thing to do, but her ego had gotten the best of her, and it had been so long since she had shown her true power to anyone; however, she hadn't counted on Hiei realizing that she was using up all of her spirit energy. He was smarter than she'd given him credit for; nothing like those other half-witted demons that usually came after her. She didn't like him at all.  
  
The Shadow went to sit in the darkest corner of the cell, making herself appear as small as possible. She knew now that she wasn't going to be killed. If any of them had wanted her dead, they would have done the job by now. No, they wanted her alive. But for what? She had been a criminal for years; maybe they wanted to keep her locked up here. If that was the case, then they were clearly underestimating her.   
  
Hearing somebody's footsteps coming toward her, the Shadow stiffened in the corner, listening. It wasn't a heavy person coming her way, she could tell. A lightweight, but very powerful nonetheless. If she had to fight this person, she would certainly lose. She watched as the person came into the dim light.  
  
"Shadow? ...I know you're in there. I would like to speak with you for a moment, if I may."  
  
She stood up. No use ignoring him.   
  
"You're the one called Kurama," she said, remembering that he had been with the Spirit Detective and the others.  
  
"Yes," he nodded.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"To talk," he answered simply.  
  
This took her by surprise. "Talk? What for?" She fixed her cold eyes onto him.  
  
He shrugged. "I thought you might want some company."   
  
"I don't need anybody." She crossed her arms, still partly hidden in the shadows.  
  
"Have you always called yourself the Shadow, or do you have a name?" Kurama chose to ignore her comment.   
  
"Why should I tell you?"  
  
"It was just a question. You don't need to answer it."  
  
There was a long pause. Finally, she said, "Teilen. My name is Teilen." Saying her own name felt strange, as she hadn't spoken it in years. "I never called myself the 'Shadow'."  
  
"I see."  
  
She left her place in the corner to take a few steps toward him, into the light where he could see her. "Tell me why you didn't kill me when you had the chance."  
  
"That isn't the reason we went to find you," he answered. "We only wish to have your assistance."  
  
"My 'assistance'? With what?"  
  
"I'm not sure, exactly. Yusuke, the Spirit Detective, received orders from Koenma to bring you to him. He needs you for something, although I don't know what that is."  
  
"Koenma." She said the name with hate. "He's been sending his detectives after me for years, and I very highly doubt it was because he wanted my help for anything."  
  
"He must need you for something, because he has arranged for you to be escorted to his office this afternoon so he could speak with you about it."  
  
"Now which oaf of his is going to 'escort' me there?"  
  
"Actually, that 'oaf' is going to be me," Kurama replied. He didn't seem very bothered about being called an oaf. "Nobody else wanted to volunteer for the job."  
  
She placed her hands on her hips, a looking pleased with herself. "Huh."  
  
"If you're ready, I will take you there now."  
  
"Oh, I'm ready. I can't wait to find out what that _wexa_ wants from me."  
  
. . .  
  
Koenma was trying to sort out all the paperwork on his desk when he heard three brisk knocks on the door.  
  
"This had better be good, I'm busy!" He yelled to the visitor. The door opened, revealing the caller. "Oh, it's you, Kurama. I wasn't expecting you for another hour."  
  
Kurama walked into the room. "Yes, well it appears that our Shadow has woken up sooner than expected." He turned to look out the doors. "Come on inside, Teilen."  
  
She reluctantly stepped into the room, crossing her arms and looking around the room as if she were bored.  
  
Koenma was surprised to finally meet the Shadow. "Well, this is quite unexpected."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Teilen shot back at him, uncrossing her arms.  
  
"Er—nothing. I just didn't think..." He trailed off. "Anyway, you're probably wondering why you're here."  
  
"That would be a start." She glared at him.  
  
Koenma straightened up in his chair. "Well, you see that fact of the matter is, I need you to help me out with something."  
  
Teilen scowled. "Yes, I already know that. What I want to know is, what do you need me for?"  
  
"We'll get to that as soon as my Spirit Detective and the others arrive."  
  
"Then tell me why I should help you."  
  
"Because I'm willing to make a deal with you. Now, it's my understanding that you've earned yourself a nice little piece of paper that says 'Wanted: Dead or Alive'. To earn this fabulous award, you have spent years stealing precious items from all three worlds—Human, Demon, and Spirit—and you also killed every one of your pursuers, human and demon alike."  
  
Teilen crossed her arms again. "So what's your point?"  
  
Koenma cleared his throat. "My point is, I can make that little piece of paper go away. I can let you off with good behavior if you agree to help me out," he explained.  
  
"...Huh." There was a long silence.  
  
Koenma leaned forward. "So do we have a deal, Shadow?"  
  
She looked up at him. "How do I know this isn't a trick?"  
  
"You can trust him," Kurama spoke up. "Hiei and I were let off the hook in a similar way."  
  
"That's right," Koenma agreed. "So what do you say?"  
  
"Fine," she snapped. "But after this, don't expect me to stick around and become another one of your lackeys. As soon as this is over, I'm gone."  
  
. . .  
  
AN: Okay, that's it for chapter 6. If anyone's reading this, please review it, I'll feel a whole lot better...  
  
_Next Chapter: Koenma's Story_


	8. Koenma's Story

**~High Voltage~  
**. . .  
AN: Well I was depressed yesterday because I didn't seem to be getting any reviews, and then this morning I checked and had like, ten! So now I'm happy again, thanks to all the reviewers!  
. . .  
_Chapter Seven: Koenma's Story  
_. . .

  
  
Yusuke shoved open the doors to Koenma's office without bothering to knock. "All right, what kind of horrible death mission are we going on this time?" He stepped inside, followed by Kuwabara and Botan. Kurama was already in the room, along with Teilen.  
  
"Hey, where's Shorty?" Kuwabara wondered. He caught the glare that Teilen was giving him, and quickly added, "I—I mean Hiei. Did I say 'short', cause there's nothing wrong with being short..."  
  
"Hn. Incompetent," came Hiei's voice from the other side of the room.  
  
Koenma finished stamping the last paper on his desk and turned his attention to the ones gathered in his office. "Good, you're all here. Now we can get right down to business."  
  
"Lay it on us, little guy," Yusuke said, earning himself a whack upside the head courtesy of Botan.  
  
"Thank you, Botan. Anyway," Koenma continued, "pay attention because I have a lot to tell you. As I may or may not have stated before your last mission, the Spirit World is in great danger; along with the Human World and the Demon World as well. It would appear that a powerful demon destroyed by our last Spirit Detective long ago is about to be resurrected very soon. How do I know?" He said before Yusuke could open his mouth, and then he answered the question: "A trusted friend of mine had a prophecy of this event a few weeks ago."  
  
"What?" Yusuke rolled his eyes. "So somebody has a stupid dream and now you think the world is gonna end, right?"  
  
Koenma just shook his head. "In the Spirit World, we don't screw around with prophecies. We take them very seriously since they usually turn out to be fairly accurate."  
  
"So what was this guy's dream about?" Kuwabara wondered.  
  
Koenma opened one of the drawers in his desk and began to dig through his files. "I have it here somewhere...there it is!" He pulled out a piece of paper and began to read from it: "_'The Spirit World verifies the following prophecy'_, blah blah blah... Here we go: _'Under the full moon, two children of human origin play God, bringing to life a demon who will create a world for the udead. Death and destruction for all will follow, unless the one hiding in the shadows will fight. Only then will the curse of Khewew Hem-teh be lifted and the world saved by one of __Egypt__'s own.'_"  
  
Yusuke gave Koenma a blank stare. "Great. Translation, please?"  
  
Koenma narrowed his eyes at the young Spirit Detective. "It means that two human kids are going to bring a really bad demon back to life during the full moon, which is about a week from now, and apparently the only one who can stop him is the one who hides in the shadows."  
  
"I get it," Kuwabara nodded. "So you think that person is her?" He gestured towards Teilen, who glared at him from the corner.  
  
"I know that person is her," Koenma answered. "But the one thing that keeps throwing me off is the part about the world being saved by one of Egypt's own."  
  
There was a short silence before Kurama spoke up. "_Khewew__ Hem-teh_...that name is Egyptian; however I cannot recall its meaning."  
  
"Evil slave," Teilen remarked from the corner.  
  
"What did you just call him?" Yusuke turned to stare at her.  
  
"That's what it means, you idiot," Teilen snapped back. "_'Khewew Hem-teh'_ is Egyptian for 'evil slave'."  
  
"Tch. Well excuse me for only knowing one language."  
  
"So Koenma," Botan began, "What about the kids who are supposed to revive this demon? Isn't there a way to stop them from doing it?"  
  
"Of course there is," Koenma replied. "That's Plan A, although the only information we have about the kids is that they live in Egypt."  
  
"Stupid humans, always screwing everything up," Kuwabara muttered, receiving strange looks from the demons. "What kind of moron would bring a bad guy back to life, anyway?"  
  
"Probably as a joke," Yusuke said. "I bet they don't think it's really gonna happen."  
  
"Right," Kurama agreed.  
  
"So all they're supposed to know is that these kids are somewhere in Egypt?" Botan gave Koenma an incredulous look. "That's not much to go on, Koenma."  
  
Koenma sighed. "Yes, I know. They probably won't be able to stop the revival in time. That's why it was so important to find the Shadow--pardon me, 'Teilen'—before going on this mission. As the prophecy clearly states, she may very well be our only hope for survival."  
  
Teilen had been quiet while listening to the others, but now she stepped forward. "So you're expecting me to be the big save-the-day hero, huh?" She scowled, disliking the idea. "Let me tell you something, I'm no hero and I never will be. I don't want to do it."  
  
"You won't be on your own," Koenma said. "You'll be with this group."  
  
"That's not the point," she said. "Besides, I work alone."  
  
"Not this time. I have a feeling you'll be needing all the help you can get," Koenma responded. "I'm only asking you to defeat a demon. Don't think of it as having to play the hero. Do this one thing for me and you're off the hook for good."  
  
Teilen considered this. It was very tempting, the idea of having her slate wiped clean of any charges, and she DID love a good challenge... "I'll do it," she reluctantly agreed once again.  
  
"Great," Koenma said. "You'll all be leaving for Egypt tomorrow, to search for those human kids."  
  
"Nice," Yuske nodded. "No school."  
  
. . .  
  
AN: Short chapter, I know. Sorry, they'll get longer as the story progresses. That's a promise. So review and tell me what you think! Please, with sugar on top?  
  
_Next Chapter: Off To __Egypt_


	9. Off To Egypt

**~High Voltage~  
**. . .  
AN: Hello all! Here's the next exciting installment of High Voltage! ...Well...um...I hope it's exciting, I could be wrong. But ok, about the Egyptian language: I'm not Egyptian, never have been, and never will be. I only know some of the language due to lots 'n' lotsa research. Basically what I'm saying is, I don't claim to be an expert on the language but I do think that for the most part, I'm fairly accurate. I could tell you the story of how I slaved away at my brother's computer, trying to figure everything out, but you don't want to hear that, do you?  
  


So on with the story! ...Should be a funny one. ^^;  
. . .  
_Chapter 8: Off To __Egypt__  
_. . .

  
  
Yusuke swung the door of Kurama's house wide open. "I have tickets!" He sang. He was stoked about not having school for at least a week, maybe more, and had been on cloud nine all day long. Humming loudly, Yusuke closed the door, kicked off his shoes, and went into the living room to find his friends. "Kurama?"  
  
"In here, Yusuke," came the reply. Yusuke wandered into the next room to find everyone gathered inside. They were all getting ready for their trip. The packed bags were piled up in one corner of the room. Kurama and Kuwabara were seated at the table, having a bite to eat. Hiei was standing by the window and Teilen, looking vey out-of-place, was slouched into a corner far away from the others.  
  
"Hey guys," Yusuke grinned at them and waved the plane tickets. "We're all set for flight 22 to Cairo this afternoon at two o'clock."  
  
"Alright!" Kuwabara was just as excited to be out of school as Yusuke was. "I've never been to Egypt before. What'd you tell your mom, Urameshi?"  
  
"Class trip," Yusuke said with a smirk. "What was your excuse?"  
  
"Same thing," he answered.  
  
"Nice. Is that what you said, too, Kurama?" Yuske asked him.  
  
"Yes," Kurama nodded. "Would you like something to eat, Yusuke?"  
  
"Nah, I just had a burger."   
  
"This is gonna be so cool!" Kuwabara continued. "Too bad Yukina can't be there."  
  
Hiei looked up upon hearing his sister's name, but quickly disregarded it when he realized who had spoken it.  
  
"I can't wait to see those neat pyramids," Kuwabara rattled on. "I want to take lots of pictures, buy lots of neat stuff, and meet the king, and see those houses that dead guys live in."  
  
"They're called 'tombs', you clod," Teilen commented.  
  
"Well...I didn't know, okay?" Kuwabara turned away, muttering something about having to deal with another smart-alecked short person.  
  
Yusuke sat down beside Kurama. "So how's it going?  
  
"We're doing fine, Yusuke," Kurama said.  
  
"I see the new recruit isn't getting any friendlier."  
  
"I heard that." Teilen shot him a glare.  
  
"Jeez, your people skills are as bad as Hiei's," Yusuke commented.  
  
All he got for a reply was a short "Huh." Teilen looked at the ground, as if it were of more interest than the conversation.  
  
Yusuke's gaze traveled from Teilen to Hiei on the other side of the room. "Those two don't seem to get along, do they?"  
  
Kurama shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not." He recalled the argument that had broken out a few hours before. They had been in the same room for less than ten minutes when it started. Kurama wasn't sure how it had begun, but it ended with the two of them agreeing to fight each other once more after the demon Khewew Hem-teh was defeated. Then they went to seperate sides of the room without another word to each other.  
  
"Oh well," Yusuke said. "In two hours we'll be on our way to Egypt."  
  
. . .

  
  
Two o'clock came, finding the gang at the airport. They boarded the plane with no problems, and most of them took their seats without any trouble. Botan and Yusuke had taken their seats, and Kurama and Kuwabara had been seated next to each other as stated on their tickets. But there were two very unhappy campers:  
  
"I refuse to sit with him!"  
  
"And I refuse to sit with her!"  
  
Teilen and Hiei glared at each other, and then at the last two free seats on the plane, which were right beside each other.  
  
"I only sit next to worthy opponents," Hiei scowled.  
  
"And I don't sit next to fat-heads," Teilen shot back.  
  
"Children, it's just a plane ride," Yusuke reminded them. "It's not like you're gonna have to marry whoever you sit next to."  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Huh."  
  
"We're not getting anywhere this way," Kurama sighed.  
  
"Right," Botan agreed. "Besides, it says on the ticket where you're supposed to sit, so you really don't have a choice other than to sit next to each other and try to get along for a few hours."  
  
"Fine." Teilen quickly jumped into the window seat before Hiei could take it. Hiei, looking quite irritated, had to settle with the aisle seat. He greatly disliked sitting in the aisle seat because, as he soon discovered, every time the stewardess went by with the meal cart it banged into his elbow. To make matters worse, he was forced to be surrounded by at least two hundred humans, whom he didn't care for at all. Hiei ignored those who stared at him and averted his gaze elsewhere.  
  
Meanwhile Teilen was cramped against the window, wanting to get as far from these noisy human creatures as possible. She had never seen so many humans at once before, and she knew immediately that she didn't enjoy their company; although for her own reasons, she didn't completely hate them either.  
  
Hiei was becoming more and more annoyed with the humans. They didn't seem to know how to be silent and just ride the plane in peace. Humans were so ignorant and weak. They kept jabbering on to one another, laughing and shouting... Hiei crossed his arms tightly as the meal cart went by again, but it still struck his elbow. Narrowing his eyes and scowling deeply, Hiei could not wait for the plane ride to end.   
  
. . .

  
  
Teilen saw the vast deserts first. She had been staring blankly out the window throughout the entire flight, and was the first to notice when they arrived in Egypt. Saying nothing to the others, of course, she gazed down (as much as she could) seeing nothing but the wheat-colored sand and the clouds the plane was passing through.  
  
When they landed, every human on the plane stood up and tried to exit at the same time. 'Foolish _humans,'_ she thought to herself. They were like a herd of cattle; their minds set on one thing, while any common sense that they might have possessed beforehand clearly being neglected at the moment. Not wanting to become comparable to the bovine species herself, Teilen decided to sit in her seat and wait until every human had exited the plane before she got off. She quickly glanced over to Hiei and saw that he was doing the exact same thing. He turned his head and met her gaze, crimson eyes locking onto mid-night blue, and both sets of eyes immediately narrowed at each other.  
  
"Are we ready to get off now?" Yusuke leaned over their seats, interrupting the stare-down.  
  
Without a word, Hiei stood up and followed Yusuke off the plane. Teilen also rose from her seat in silence, and was the last one to exit the plane.  
  
. . .

  
  
"First class hotel room, just the way I like 'em!" Yusuke said loudly, after Kurama had opened the door to the guys' room and he somewhat carelessly tossed all his bags into the room.  
  
"I can't believe we're really in Egypt!" Kuwabara said as he entered the room, setting his luggage on the center of one of the two double beds.  
  
Yusuke caught on and was quick to react to Kuwabara's claiming of the bed. "Wait just one minute Kuwabara, who said you could have a double bed all to yourself?"  
  
"I did, Urameshi, I said it right after we got off the plane!" Kuwabara replied defensively. "Besides, would you rather share with me or Kurama?"  
  
"I'm NOT sharing," Yusuke retorted, crossing his arms.  
  
Kurama approached them. "If having a bed to yourself means that much to you, I will sleep on the floor," he said.  
  
"No way!" Kuwabara protested. "We should decide this fairly, like men!"  
  
"Alright," Yusuke sighed. "Rock-Paper-Scissors it is. Let's go, Kurama."  
  
The three of them held out their fists as Hiei watched them from by the window, becoming increasingly bored.  
  
"Rock, Paper, Scissors, SHOOT!" The three duelists thrust forward their final signs; Yusuke and Kurama with paper, and Kuwabara with scissors.  
  
"Yeah! I won!" Kuwabara did a victory dance around the room. "I never lose in that game! In your face, Urameshi!"  
  
"Aw, crap," Yusuke muttered. "Kurama, I'll play you for the other bed."  
  
"Of course," he replied. Thus the game began again, and ended shortly; Yusuke chose rock, and Kurama chose paper.  
  
"Damn!" Yusuke cursed. "Looks like I'll be spending some quality time with the floor tonight... Hey Hiei, what about you?" He looked across the room at the fire demon, who was staring intently out the window.  
  
Hiei looked up for a brief moment. "Hn. I don't care."  
  
"I bet Shorty doesn't even sleep," Kuwabara remarked. He flopped onto his prize (the bed) and reached for the remote on the bedside table. Turning on the television, he began to surf the channels.  
  
"So, tomorrow we start looking for those kids, huh?" Yusuke sat down on Kurama's bed. "Tch. We're never gonna find them."  
  
"The odds are certainly against us," Kurama agreed. "Koenma seems to think that they are somewhere in this city."  
  
"Perfect," Yusuke grumbled. "This is gonna be like looking for a needle in a haystack."  
  
With a sigh of frustration, Kuwabara shut off the television. "I can't understand a single word on the TV," he complained. "It's all in Egyptian."  
  
. . .

  
  
"Well," Botan said as she walked into the hotel room she was sharing with Teilen, which was right next door to the guys' room. "Here we are." She set her suitcase down on the floor and went to look out the window. "What a gorgeous view!"  
  
Teilen crossed her arms and felt bored. She didn't care about the view. She just wanted to get the mission over with so that she could get back to doing her own thing. She stared at Botan, who was blabbering on and on about how beautiful Egypt was, not realizing that Teilen wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to the words that she was speaking. Even Botan could be entertained by the most insignificant of distractions.  
  
Botan turned around, seeing that Teilen was watching her. "Well, at least we won't have to argue over who gets a bed, will we?" She said, trying to be friendly.  
  
"I don't need a bed," Teilen replied. So much for friendliness...  
  
"Oh...well I suppose you're not used to sleeping in one, are you?" Botan tried for conversation this time.  
  
"Huh." So much for conversation.  
  
Botan gave up. It was hopeless. She sat down on one of the beds and turned on the television. Teilen wished she would leave, so that she could be by herself. She hadn't had a moment to herself all day. She watched Botan spend five minutes in front of the television, flipping through all 200 channels and finding nothing with a language that she could understand. As Kuwabara was just discovering in the next room, everything was in Egyptian. Finally, Botan set the remote down on the bed and got up.   
  
"I think I'll just pop over to the boys' room and see how they're doing," she said to Teilen, and then she hurried out the door. Teilen let five more minutes pass before she turned her attention to the television, which was still on. What type of human contraption was this? She scowled at the black box for another minute or so before curiosity got the best of her.  
  
Moving closer to the television, Teilen watched the moving pictures on the screen—a bunch of humans talking to one another, how boring—and listened to the language that was being spoken. Botan couldn't understand it, but she had no trouble. This human contraption was actually quite fascinating. Teilen remembered Botan using the remote control to change the channels, so she picked it up off the bed and examined it closely, turning it over in her hands. Which button was supposed to change the channel?  
  
Teilen noticed two buttons on the remote that each had arrows on them; one pointing up and one pointing down. Figuring that one of them would make a different program appear on the screen, Teilen quickly pressed the button with the 'up' arrow on it. The only thing that happened was, a rectangular blue box with a bunch of lines inside it appeared on the bottom of the screen. Teilen glared at the television. Why wasn't it working? She pressed the button down again, and this time she held it down.  
  
What happened next was very unexpected. The rectangular blue box appeared on the screen again, but this time many more little lines appeared inside it the longer she held the button down. She didn't realize that the button she had been holding down was the volume control until it was too late.  
  
"_BEW-NEFER DEWA_," bellowed the human man inside the box. Alarmed, Teilen realized what she had done and that she had better correct the problem before somebody came into the room to inspect the noise. In a panic, she hit many different buttons on the remote, causing a bunch of multi-colored boxes to pop up on the screen. The noise level, however, did not change.  
  
"_DEWA, I KHERED_," roared an elderly human woman in response to the human man. Teilen pounded on the remote, desperately trying to silence the noisy humans inside the box. _'Damned human wexas!'_ She thought angrily. _'Can't they put an 'off' button on their stupid box-controller?'_ Suddenly Teilen froze as she saw the doorknob begin to turn.  
  
_ 'Hell with it,'_ she thought. She threw the remote over her shoulder and held up her right hand, palm facing forward, aiming it at the loathsome box of humans. A thin, blue and white strip of electricity shot out of the center of her palm, zapping the television and frying it on contact. Satisfied that the noise had ceased to exist, Teilen placed her hands on her hips as Botan, Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara entered the room.  
  
The four of them stared at the television, which now had a very warped appearance, along with black smoke emanating from the top of it. Teilen glared at them, as if daring them to say something. They didn't. Instead, the three guys turned around and headed back to their room, while Botan disappeared into the bathroom without a word. The sound of running water was heard a few seconds later, but it was useless; Teilen could hear the laughter anyway.  
  


. . .

  
  
Yusuke and Kuwabara waited until they had gotten back to their room and closed the door behind them before bursting into fits of hysterical laughter; even Kurama couldn't help but laugh.  
  
. . .

  
  
Botan pounded on the door of the guys' room. "Hurry up, boys!" She called impatiently. "We have to go now!" She had organized a trip into the city that night, so they could have some fun before the mission began the next day. Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara didn't need much convincing; they were anxious to get to know their surroundings anyway. It took a lot of begging and pleading to get Teilen to agree to go, and Hiei was a completely different story. He kept refusing the offer until Kurama pointed out that maybe they would find some clues regarding the demon _Khewew__ Hem-teh_; then, very reluctantly of course, he had consented to go along with them.  
  
Now the four of them—Botan, Kurama, Hiei and Teilen—were waiting for Yusuke and Kuwabara to come out of their room so they could leave. Botan beat on the door again.  
  
"Yusuke, it's almost nine o'clock!" She informed him. "Come on, let's go!"  
  
The door swung open. "Okay, okay!" Yusuke stepped out of the room, Kuwabara at his heels. "Lock the door, would you Kuwabara?"  
  
"I got it, Urameshi!" Kuwabara shot back, looking annoyed.  
  
"Are we all ready to leave now?" Botan asked them. All she got for a response was a few nodding heads and a couple grunts. She sighed. "Let's get going."  
  
. . .

  
  
"Come on, Urameshi, hurry up!" Kuwabara urged him, leaning over Yusuke's shoulder while the Spirit Detective devoured plate after plate of Egyptian food. Everyone else was ready to go except him.  
  
"Just a frickin' minute, Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted between enormous bites. "I haven't eaten since we got off plane and I'm starving! Besides, we've got Koenma's credit card, don't you wanna take advantage of that?"  
  
Everyone had decided (or rather, Botan, Kuwabara and Yusuke decided) to make their first stop at a cafe in the city. Most of them had only ordered drinks and a snack and had finished in a matter of minutes. They had been waiting ten minutes for one of two possible outcomes : either Yusuke would become full or the cafe would run out of food.  
  
"It's ten o'clock, Yusuke," Botan informed him. "The museum closes at eleven, and we wanted to have a look around inside!"  
  
"Yeah, so quit stuffing your face and then we can go!" Kuwabara added.  
  
"Fine!" Yusuke managed to cram one last gargantuan forkful of food into his mouth and got up from the table. He took Koenma's credit card out of his pocket and went to pay for his exceptionally large meal.  
  
"He'll be three hundred pounds by the time he's thirty," Kuwabara remarked as they watched him saunter up to the counter.   
  
"Let's wait for him outside," Botan suggested. They all wandered out the doors to the sidewalk outside, gazing about the scenario around them.  
  
Kurama leaned against the side of the building. Egypt certainly was very different from home. Aside from another language being spoken, the weather was much warmer. Not to mention the completely different surroundings. His eyes traveled to each one of his comrades. Kuwabara was pacing back and forth impatiently, Botan kept checking her watch at regular intervals (approximately every five seconds). Hiei stood with his hands in his pockets, doing an excellent job of looking bored out of his mind, although Kurama could tell that something about this mission interested him. Teilen was standing apart from the group, looking to be in deep thought.  
  
A few minutes later, Yusuke rejoined them. "Okay, I'm ready to go to that stupid museum," he muttered, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets.  
  
"Alright!" Kuwabara stopped pacing and brightened up. He was excited over the thought of getting to see real-live (so to speak) mummies.  
  
The museum was just down the road, so the group didn't have far to walk. Once they arrived there, Botan pointed something out to them.  
  
"Look, everyone." She gestured towards a triangular-shaped object far off in the distance--just visible through the swirling dust that filled the air thanks to all the lights in the city—which seemed to be floating amid a vast lake of wheat-colored sand.  
  
"A pyramid!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "Neat! I wish we had time to go get a better look..." His face fell in disappointment as the six of them stopped outside of the museum.  
  
"Go ahead, Kuwabara. While you're at it, why don't you just go inside? Bet you'll find a nice old coffin with a dead guy in it!" Yusuke teased.  
  
Kuwabara grimaced. "Eww... So there are still dead bodies in there?"  
  
"Not just dead bodies," Teilen said, surprising them because they didn't realize she had been listening. "Egyptians buried their most valuable treasures inside the tombs along with their dead—jewelry, chariots, clothing, and artifacts of all kinds. Even their coffins were often made of solid gold. I wouldn't bother trying to get to it, though," she added, seeing the hopeful looks Kuwabara and Yusuke were giving each other. "The tombs were probably emptied out hundreds of years before you were even born."  
  
Kuwabara was confused. "But why would they put all that stuff in there if the guy is dead? It's not like he's gonna use it."  
  
"Yeah," Yusuke added. "And why bury someone in a solid gold coffin? It's just a waste."  
  
Teilen sighed. "Gold meant more to the Egyptians than mere riches. They associated it with the sun and eternity itself. The flesh of the gods was believed to be gold, which would never decay. Think," she told them, a little annoyed.  
  
Kurama glanced back at them. "You seem to know quite a lot about Egypt, Teilen," he remarked.  
  
"I know enough," was all he got for a reply. She turned her head to fix her gaze elsewhere. End of conversation.  
  
"Well, are we ready to go inside now?" Botan asked them, a hint of impatience in her tone. After all, it was after ten and they didn't have much time left.  
  
"Yeah, sure," Yusuke mumbled. He, Botan, Kuwabara, and Kurama all walked up the stairs and entered the building.  
  
Teilen hung back and noticed that Hiei had been frozen in the same spot since they stopped to look at the pyramid, head turned and staring off into the distance. Wondering what he was looking at, she turned her head in the same direction.  
  
"_Ne__-me_?" She said softly, seeing what had caused Hiei to become so intrigued. Off in the distance near the pyramid, just barely noticable, were flashes of light--pink, orange, and gold--along with what appeared to be lightning, although it was red in color. Teilen had never seen anything quite like it, but something told her that it wasn't a good sign. "_Neter-nefer_," she muttered to herself.  
  
Hiei turned back to face her, forgetting about their grudge for the moment. "We're too late."  
  
Teilen was about to ask him how the hell he knew that for sure when suddenly a shrieking sound was heard from inside the museum. As both demons trained their eyes onto the building, the doors were opened quite forcibly and a middle-aged, balding man wearing flip-flop sandals came running out, looking extremely upset.  
  
"It has begun!" He shouted hysterically. "It has begun!" He swung around to face Teilen and Hiei, eyes popping in fright, face bathed in perspiration. "The curse has been unleashed! We're all doomed!"  
  
Hiei narrowed his eyes at him, and Teilen gave him a queer look.  
  
"_Wey__?!_" She demanded to know.  
  
He was in too much of a deranged state to answer. Instead he shrieked, "God have mercy on our souls!" and took off running down the street. Teilen watched him go, completely bewildered. She could take one good guess at what had happened, but how on Earth would that man have known about the kids?  
  
Minutes later, Botan, Kurama, Kuwabara and Yusuke ran out of the museum.  
  
"Did you see where that guy went?" Yusuke asked them.  
  
"No," Teilen answered. "What does it matter?"  
  
"He just started freaking out," Kuwabara said. "He was taking the tour with us, and all of a sudden he just snapped. It was like he was suddenly another person."  
  
"Yeah, he started yelling about the world coming to an end and then he ran outside," Yusuke added. "We wanted to ask him what was wrong because we thought maybe it was something about that Khewa--whatever guy."  
  
"It doesn't matter," Hiei said. "The demon has already been revived." He turned back toward the flashing lights, and this time Kurama noticed it too.  
  
"Yes, I see now," he said. "It must have happened at that pyramid. It would seem that the children have acted sooner than we thought."  
  
"Yeah!" Yusuke said. "I thought we were gonna have a week to find them!"  
  
"Prophecies aren't always entirely correct," Botan explained.  
  
"This bites," Kuwabara commented.  
  
Botan sighed. "You're right. This is no good. I suppose we'll have to go back to the hotel and contact Koenma, he'll need to know the bad news."  
  
. . .  
  
Translations:  
  
_Bew-nefer__ dewa_ --"Good morning"  
  
_Dewa__, i khered_ --"Morning, my child"  
  
_Wexa_ --"Fool"  
  
_Wey__!?_ --"How!?"  
  
_Neter-nefer_ --"Good god"  
  
_Ne__-me?_ --"What?"  
  
AN: Um…yeah. Ya know what, I just realized while I was editing this: people in Egypt don't speak ancient Egyptian anymore…they speak mostly Arabic. So…for the sake of this chapter, let's just say that in the show Teilen was watching, the people _did_ speak the ancient language. Guess what I also realized? Since Teilen actually knows a language that died thousands of years ago…that must make her pretty damn old! ^_^;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; Anywayz…  
  
_Next Chapter: Hatred_


	10. Hatred And Preparation

**~High Voltage~**  
. . .  
_Chapter 9: Hatred And Preparation  
_. . .

  
The gentle morning rays of sunlight were what woke Botan the next morning. Her eyes opened, and she blinked the sleep from them, recalling the events of the night before. The demon, Khewew Hem-teh, had been brought back from the dead. They had all headed back to their hotel rooms minutes after that revelation so that she could contact Koenma; however, Koenma had appeared before them sooner than they could reach the hotel. He had a few things to inform them. Apparently they had two weeks before the demon could be fully resurrected, which meant two weeks to prepare for battle.  
  
Botan sat up, pushing back the covers and looking around the room. The first thing she noticed was the empty bed beside hers. In fact, she seemed to be the only one in the room at the moment. She really hoped that wherever Teilen had gone off to, she was planning on coming back. The night before, Botan had tried and failed to pursuade the lightning demon to sleep in the other bed. Teilen firmly stated that she had no use for such things, and sure enough, the bed looked as though it hadn't been touched. Which left Botan wondering where Teilen had slept, or if she had slept at all.  
  
. . .

  
  
The activity going on by the pyramid was not as visible during the day. The further distance also made surveillance all the more difficult, but the red of the lightning-like energy could still be made out quite easily. It was crackling directly above the pyramid and considerably larger than the night before.  
  
Teilen watched it from her place on the roof of the hotel. She hadn't slept much; maybe three hours at the most, but she never got very much sleep anyhow. The carpeting of the hotel room had just been too comfortable for her liking--it was nothing like the hard ground that she was used to sleeping on.  
  
She watched the sun as it continued to rise higher in the sky. Guessing it was around seven o'clock, Teilen realized that everyone else would be waking up soon (Hiei and Kurama were probably already awake, but she wasn't concerned with them). They would wonder where she had gone off to. There was no doubt in her mind that Botan, who seemed to be the blabber-mouth of the group, would tell the others that she was missing.  
  
Teilen hated being the center of attention.  
  
She decided to go back to the room before they formed a search party.  
  
. . .

  
  
Hiei had been the first one up because he hadn't slept at all that night. He had sat on the windowsill of the guys' room for a few hours, watching Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama as they all fell asleep. When he was sure they were all sleeping, he had snuck out the window and left the hotel.  
  
He hadn't been back since, and now it was close to seven o'clock. Hiei had gone over to the pyramid to inspect the scene for himself. It was what he thought everyone else should have done in the first place, though he had never said anything to them. However, once there, he found that there had been nothing more of interest to discover anyway. The crackling red lightning-like energy had been over the pyramid, and the flashing colors seemed to be coming from what appeared to be a rip in the sky. Finding only this, Hiei had turned back, returning to the city. He hadn't gone back to the hotel, though. Instead, he had perched on top of a telephone pole, high up in the air where no human would see him even if there were any awake at this hour.   
  
It was there that he noticed Teilen up on the hotel roof across the street. Hiei didn't know exactly why he didn't like her. He knew that he hated her attitude, and found it rather annoying. She could be quite arrogant at times, which he also couldn't stand. Besides, she despised him for her own reasons. Hiei wasn't about to be receptive towards somebody who hated his guts.  
  
He watched her turn away and head back down the stairs, probably going back to the hotel room. He thought that he should head back soon as well. Since _Khewew__ Hem-teh_ would not arrive for another two weeks, Hiei figured he would spend that time training by himself and with Kurama, so the sooner they started, the better.  
  
. . .

  
  
Teilen opened the door to the room she and Botan shared.  
  
"There you are," Botan said cheerfully. She had some clothes in her arms and was on her way to the bathroom. "I was just about to hop into the shower."  
  
Teilen tried not to care, but she was curious. Finally she asked, "What's a 'show-wer'?"  
  
"Oh, it's fantastic!" Botan answered. "It's what humans use to clean themselves. You ought to try it sometime, Teilen."  
  
"Huh," she grunted in reply. What ever happened to a simple bath in a nearby pond?  
  
Botan shrugged and went into the bathroom, leaving Teilen by herself. She sat down on the edge of the nearest bed, with absolutely nothing to do. She knew that she had to start training for the arrival of _Khewew__ Hem-teh_ as soon as possible, but right now she just couldn't focus on that. There were too many distractions in the room for her to ignore. Though she cared little for humans, she was very intrigued by their strange inventions. Like this 'shower' that Botan spoke of. Teilen wondered how it worked. She listened to the sound of running water that was coming from the bathroom and wanted to know what it was like.  
  
Curiosity getting the best of her yet again, she eventually rose from the bed and walked over to the door separating the guys' room from hers. After hesitating for a moment, she twisted the knob and pushed it open.  
  
Teilen entered the room as Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara looked up at her.  
  
"Whoa, are you actually gonna talk to us?" Yusuke wondered.  
  
"I need to use your 'show-wer'." She told them, ignoring his comment.  
  
"Go ahead, nobody's in there," he replied with a shrug.  
  
She gave him a slight nod and went into their bathroom, closing the door behind her. And now to figure out how to work this human device. She guessed that one was supposed to stand in the rectangular white tub, and that knob must make the water come out. Teilen quickly undressed and stepped into the tub, pulling the curtain shut. She pulled on the knob, and almost instantly water began to pour onto her head. At first she was shocked to feel it so quickly. The water was very cold, but she didn't mind. It was no warmer than what she was used to.  
  
Teilen rinsed herself off; then she became curious and used the soap to clean her skin. Once finished with that, she noticed a small bottle labeled 'Shampoo' on the corner of the bathtub. Picking it up and reading the back of it, she realized that humans used this on their hair. She unscrewed the cap and sniffed. Strange. It smelled of flowers. She turned it upside down and poured some onto the palm of her hand. Setting the small bottle back where she had found it, Teilen rubbed the soapy substance into her hair, and then rinsed it out like the instructions on the back of the bottle had said. She let the cold water rain onto her for a minute longer before she pushed the knob backwards, shutting the water off, and pulled back the curtains.  
  
. . .

  
  
Hiei came into the room in search of Kurama. He wanted to start training with him right away, and had come to tell him that. But the only one in the room had been the fool, Kuwabara.  
  
"If you're looking for the other two, they left a few minutes ago," Kuwabara informed him.   
  
Hiei just said, "Hn," and turned to the bathroom, for nature was calling him. The door was cracked open, giving him reason to believe that there wasn't anybody inside. So, one can certainly imagine his surprise when he pushed the door open and discovered Teilen standing in the tub, in the buff. Startled and a little embarrassed, Hiei averted his gaze, but not before she saw him standing in the doorway.  
  
"BASTARD!"  
  
Hundreds of lightning bolts went flying at him, as well as a long string of curses in another language, and Hiei just barely managed to dodge them all. He leaped out of the room and slammed the door behind him, looking a bit flustered. Kuwabara was lying on the bed, laughing so hard he was clutching his sides. Hiei glared at him, not knowing what else to do. Then he quickly left the room, deciding to find Kurama and Yusuke.  
  
Seconds later, the bathroom door swung open and Teilen, now fully dressed, stormed out. She glared at Kuwabara, who was still in hysterics on the bed. "Where did he go?" She demanded.  
  
Kuwabara managed to choke out, "I dunno," through all his laughter. Teilen scowled at him, and then turned to leave the room. She would make Hiei pay for that! Nobody walked in on her and got away with it!  
  
. . .

  
  
That evening, Yusuke and Kurama returned to the hotel along with Hiei after a long, hard day of training. Yusuke and Kurama had gone out to the desert to find a spot suitable for sparring, and that's where Hiei had found them a little while later. Now they were all exhausted and sweaty and in desperate need of a good shower.  
  
"I call first shower!" Yusuke called as they entered their room. Kuwabara was doing some reading on the chair in the corner of the room.  
  
"Hey, guys!" He looked up at them when they re-entered the room. "Did you know that the Egyptians liked cats? It's true, they practically worshipped them! Cool, huh?" He watched Yusuke grab some clothes from his suitcase and disappear into the bathroom, while Kurama took a seat on one of the beds and Hiei stood by the window.  
  
"Yes," Kurama nodded. "You know, since Teilen knows so much about Egypt, you should ask her about it," he said, almost slyly.  
  
"Great idea." Kuwabara jumped out of the chair and went into the next room.  
  
"Hn. Are you trying to get the fool killed, Kurama?" Hiei asked him.  
  
"Not at all, Hiei," he replied. "A bit of friendly conversation never hurt anyone. It may do her some good to talk a little more."  
  
. . .

  
  
Teilen had given in to all of Botan's nagging and was lying on her back on one of the double beds. Maybe now that blue-haired freak would leave her alone. She had to admit, though, the bed was quite comfortable. At the moment, Botan was not in the room. She'd gone down to get some ice and would return in a few minutes. Teilen didn't mind the silence at all. She was enjoying this time to herself—that is, until she was rudely interrupted by the door opening.  
  
She turned her head to view the intruder. It was the tall red-head, the one who was always yelling at the Spirit Detective. Teilen regarded him as just another irritating human. He saw her lying on the bed and opened his mouth to speak.  
  
"Let me guess. You want to know about cats."  
  
His face fell. "How did you know?"  
  
"The walls aren't soundproof." She scowled at him as she sat up on the bed. "Well, what do you want to know, and make it quick." She made a mental note to kill Kurama for this later—she hated being put on the spot.  
  
"Well how come they loved cats so much?"  
  
"Egypt's original use of cats was to keep the royal granaries of Egypt vermin free," she reluctantly explained. "The cat's job itself was not so simple; the vermin bred rapidly and ate excessively well in the masses of grain. The Pharaoh realized that he needed all the cats he could get, and being a king-god himself he made the cats demigods."  
  
"Cool," Kuwabara grinned. "So if they were gods, what happened when one died?"  
  
She gave him a look of annoyance, but answered the question anyway. "Since cats were not only demigods but also Pharaoh property, it was a felony to kill or injure one, even by accident. The consequence sometimes resulted in death. If a cat died in the normal course of events, the body of the cat was was brought to an embalmer to be mummified."  
  
"Neat! I should have brought Eikichi..."  
  
Teilen stood up. "Are you finished with your questions?"  
  
"Sure," he nodded. "Thanks."  
  
"Huh." She didn't seem to hear him. "Tell me, where exactly is Hiei?"  
  
"What?" Kuwabara was surprised that she wanted to know anything concerning Hiei considering what he had accidentally done earlier that day. "Well, I think he was next in line for a shower or something. Kurama convinced him--"  
  
"Perfect," she said, not caring that she had cut him off. She opened the door separating the two rooms and marched inside.  
  
"Teilen." Kurama looked up, and Yusuke did as well from where he was trying to stuff his dirty clothes into a plastic bag that was full. She could hear the shower running in the next room, and smirked in satisfaction. She turned and made a beeline for the bathroom door.  
  
"Hey, wait a sec, Hiei's—" Yusuke began, but she didn't appear to care so he just decided to sit back and watch the show.  
  
Teilen was able to open the door and sneak inside without making a sound, using the same expert tactics she'd used as the Shadow. She saw the fire demon's shadow behind the white shower curtain, and steam was rising above him. So he'd figured out how to use the hot water. Grinning rather wickedly at the prospect of what she was about to do, Teilen slunk closer to the shower area until she was within arm's reach of the curtain. Then, in one quick motion, her right arm shot forward and ripped the said curtain clean off, exposing a completely au naturel and absolutely thunderstruck Hiei.  
  
The look on his face was positively priceless. At first he didn't seem to know just what to do. He stared at her for the first few seconds, watching her casually fling the curtain over her shoulder, before the anger set in. Words came fairly easily after that:  
  
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"  
  
She looked him up and down real quick, smirked at him and said, "Now we're even." Then she turned and left the room, slamming the door once she was out. She went back to her own room, passing Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara on the way (all of them were laughing). Once back in her room, she shut the door and jumped back onto the bed. She was still angry with him for walking in on her, but now she felt a lot better.  
  
Botan still wasn't back from her ice-run. Teilen wondered what had happened to her, but shrugged it off a second later, just as a certain furious fire demon burst into the room, fully clothed. He saw her lying on the bed, and if looks could kill, Teilen would have died and gone to Hell right on the spot.  
  
"You think this is over?" He snapped at her. "I should kill you for that!"  
  
"I should have killed you for what you did earlier!" She shot back, not moving from her spot. She continued to lie on the bed as if he weren't a threat to her at all.  
  
"I didn't know you were in there!"  
  
"Ever heard of knocking?"  
  
"Well, there was nothing worth seeing anyhow!"  
  
Teilen fought the urge to snap every single bone in his body in half right then and there. It was hard. "I could say the same for you, tiny! _Sesep__ pef_!"  
  
He scowled at her. "You're no better than those human fools."  
  
Teilen slid off the bed and stood up. "You watch what you say," she sneered at him.   
  
He took a step forward so that the two were face to face, and found that he was just the slightest bit taller than she. "I'd like to see you try and stop me."  
  
"Why don't you get the hell out of my face, _Khewew__ Jeret_!"  
  
"What does that mean?" He growled.  
  
"Wouldn't you like to know?" She cocked an eyebrow and glared at him.  
  
"You are such an insolent, obnoxious bitch!"  
  
"_Tew__ se-mer me pe pehawey_!" She shouted back at him. Hiei had no idea what it meant, but he certainly recognized an insult when he heard one.   
  
"Maybe we could continue this fight outside," he suggested bitterly.  
  
"Sounds good to me, but prepare to be beaten," she replied in just as nasty a tone. "_Wi__ ne-sep se-sew_."  
  
"Hn. I seem to recall you saying something like that the last time we fought."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"Make me!"  
  
Suddenly the door flew open and two bodies wedged themselves between the opposing demons. "Hey, hey, hey!" Yusuke was yelling. "Knock it off, you two!"  
  
"This is not the time for a dispute," Kurama reminded them.  
  
"That's right. If you're that pissed at each other, then why don't you both go back and train for a while?"  
  
"Fine." Teilen turned and left the room, slamming the door on her way out; so hard, in fact, that the door fell off its hinges seconds afterwards.  
  
"Ouch," Yusuke commented. He looked at Hiei. "What'd you do to get her so pissed off?"   
  
"Hn." Hiei went back into the guys' room without another word.  
  
. . .

  
  
Kurama managed to dodge her furious punches and kicks, and, flipping to the side, tried to get a good hit in.   
  
Teilen saw it coming and leapt backwards. She smirked up at him. "I hope you're not going easy on me because I'm a woman, Kurama. Because if you are, I will be forced to kill you."  
  
Kurama just took this comment with good humor. "Of course not," he replied. It had been a few days since the 'shower incident' and since Hiei was out training with Yusuke, Kurama decided to convince Teilen to train with him. She had reluctantly agreed, telling him he'd better not show her mercy because she was female, and they had found a spot somewhere out in the desert; far away from any humans. They had been at it for hours now, and neither was quite ready to quit. They both knew that a huge battle was only days away, and that being prepared for it was very crucial.  
  
Teilen jumped at Kurama, making her Spirit Pole appear in her hand and swinging it at him in a downward motion. Kurama instantly countered this maneuver by whipping out his Rose Whip, wrapping it around the Spirit Pole, and throwing it—with Teilen attatched—off to the side. Teilen hit the ground and quickly rolled to her feet.  
  
"Hm, well you're much better than I thought," she said, her tone indicating that she knew full well what Kurama was really capable of and was just teasing him. She ran at him and began to swing the pole this way and that, trying to get a hit in any way she could, but Kurama was able to block each attempt. Teilen flipped over his head and finally connected the Spirit Pole with his lower back, sending him sprawling to the ground. He was quick to get up, though, lashing his Rose Whip in her direction. She caught it with her Spirit Pole, pivoted 180 degrees so that her back was to him, and heaved forward. Kurama was sent flying over her head, but recovered as he righted himself in mid-air and landed on his feet.  
  
"Decent move," he remarked. He was beginning to feel the effects of those long hours of training, and he knew that she was also but refused to admit it. His gaze went up to the sky, which was starting to darken. The first stars were already out, and the full moon was a glowing white orb in the blue empyrean.  
  
"Earth to Kurama, we're training here," Teilen impatiently reminded him.  
  
"Yes, well I think we've done enough for today," he said, turning his attention back to her. "You should get some rest, and we'll continue tomorrow."  
  
"Uh-huh," she remarked, but made the Spirit Pole disappear anyway. "What do you mean that I should get some rest? I'm fine."  
  
Kurama shrugged slightly. "I've noticed that you have not been sleeping much."  
  
She gave him a weird look. "You've been spying on me?"  
  
"No, of course not. My hearing just happens to be very acute, and I am able to hear you leaving the room late at night." Kurama stared at her for a few seconds, as if pondering something. Finally, he asked, "Tell me, why is it that you dislike Hiei so much?"  
  
Teilen snorted. "What's to like?"  
  
"I wish you would give him another chance."  
  
This surprised her. "Another chance? Kurama, are you blind? This feeling of loathing is not the least bit one-sided."  
  
"I'm only saying that if you were friendlier towards him, he would respond in a more positive manner," Kurama explained.  
  
"And I'm saying 'hell no' Kurama!" She snapped back. "Why don't we just go back to the hotel?" She began to walk in the direction of the aforementioned hotel, not caring if he followed or not, when he said something that made her stop in her tracks:  
  
"The two of you are more alike than you know."  
  
Teilen scowled, muttered a few not-very-nice words under her breath, and stalked off, shaking her head. "What do you know?"  
  
. . .

  
  
Translations:  
  
_Sesep__ pef_ -- "Take that"  
  
_Khewew__ Jeret_ -- "Evil Eye"  
  
_Tew__ se-mer me pe pehawey_ -- Closest I could get to "You pain in the ass!"  
  
_Wi__ ne-sep se-sew_ -- "I never lose"  
  
AN: Aw, poor Hiei! I was so mean to him in this chapter! _*cries*_ So okay, that was kind of a long chapter. Well, longer than usual, I think. It's because I decided to combine two chapters, which is probably for the best. People have been telling me that I don't make chapters long enough, so I'm going to try to make them longer. The thing is, though, I just assumed that people were like me and didn't care to read long, long chapters. I also like to update as soon as possible, which is another reason the chapters are usually short. But if longer chapters are what the people want, then longer chapters are what they'll get, although the updates won't be as frequent. So that's my 2 cents, or whatever. Questions, comments, suggestions, anything, please review!  
  
_Next Chapter: About Teilen_


	11. About Teilen

**~High Voltage~**  
. . .  
_Chapter Ten: About Teilen  
_. . .

  
  
For the next few days afterwards, Teilen trained nonstop, whether it was with Kurama or by herself. She still hadn't had the chance to battle Yusuke yet, but figured she would challenge him soon enough. Right now they needed to focus on defeating Khewew Hem-teh. And for Teilen, the upcoming battle was to be a personal one...  
  
It was four o'clock in the morning. Teilen was lying on her back on her double bed, staring up at the ceiling. She'd had no use for the blankets, so the bed looked as though it hadn't been used. The room was still very dark, but a few birds were chirping outside. Teilen had gotten about three or four hours of sleep. She knew that it was unhealthy for one to sleep as little as she did, however sleeping never came easy to her. When it did, it was full of dreams--reminders of a past that she would rather just forget.   
  
Turning her head slightly to the left, she watched Botan sleeping in the other bed across from her. Botan, in Teilen's opinion, was quite possibly the most annoying one out of the whole bunch. She was always either nagging Teilen about trying out human things or attempting to get Teilen to have meaningless conversations with her.  
  
Letting a small yawn escape her, Teilen moved her head back so that she was staring at the ceiling once again. At least now Kurama wouldn't be able to nag her about not sleeping. She had barely moved from her spot for almost seven hours. For most of the time, she'd been sleeping. During much of the time she'd been awake, she was in deep thought; she had a lot on her mind. Especially since the battle against _Khewew__ Hem-teh_ was only a few days away. Teilen knew that she should tell the others everything she knew about him, but she was putting it off; it wasn't something she really wanted them to know, and depending on how things happened, she wouldn't have to tell them a thing. As far as she was concerned, the less they knew about her, the better.  
  
Closing her eyes, Teilen was surprised to feel as tired as she suddenly did, and before long she had fallen asleep once again.  
  
. . .

  
  
_She had broken free again. Running down the halls, she was determined not to get caught again. This time she was three years older and that much stronger. Was she strong enough to get past them should they come after her? She didn't know, but she figured it was worth a try. It was always worth a try. She was never going to give up until she was free.  
  
She turned the corner quickly, not seeing anybody patrolling the halls, and promptly flattened herself against the wall, hiding in the shadows. Over the years, she'd learned to hide like this. Since it was dark, it was fairly simple to do. Slinking along the wall, she tried to remember the way she thought would lead her to the exit. After years of imprisonment, was she finally going to break free? She suddenly froze as footsteps were heard a little ways down the hall. She waited, holding her breath, as the demon eventually passed her and continued on ahead._  
  
_ After waiting a few seconds, she kept going in the same direction the demon had went. She realized that she could meet up with him further down, but if she was correct, that was the right way to go._   
  
_Five minutes later, she was still looking for the exit. Where was it? It had to be around here, she could have sworn it was nearby. But another five minutes passed, and still nothing. The situation was getting dangerous. By now the guards must have realized she was missing, and were looking for her. When--if--she was caught, the punishment would be harsh. The last time she had gotten off easy, but this time... She shook it from thought. There was no turning back now. The only thing to do was keep looking for a way out.  
_  
_She turned down another corner, when suddenly she felt a hand clamp onto her shoulder. The hand squeezed hard, claws digging into her skin, giving her three or four small puncture wounds. She didn't utter a sound, only gazed up at her captor. It was one of the guards—a particularly ruthless-looking demon, massive in size and scale._  
  
"Up to your old tricks, huh," he _grunted in a deep, scratchy voice.__ He hauled her into the air, so that they could see eye-to-eye._ "I don't care for brats like you. You don't seem to be learning; maybe the punishments aren't severe enough for you." _He licked his lips, as if enjoying the images of increasing her torture in his mind._  
  
"Wi ib ne sat tew,"[1] _she spat at him._ "One day, I will. Mark my words."  
  
_ He didn't understand what she said._ "Whatever that meant, I'm going to make sure you're tormented extra long for it!" _He brought a fist down hard on top of her head, and she was knocked out._  
  
_When she woke up, she found herself in an odd position. Tied. Her wrists bound together, arms over her head, hanging from a wall by chains. She was at least ten feet off the ground. She was confused and disoriented from the recent event, but she knew that this wasn't the usual method of punishment. Something told her that this was to be much worse. Looking around, she spotted the guard who had knocked her out standing beside a large machine a few yards away. He noticed that she was awake, and grinned wickedly._  
  
"Good. I wanted you to be wide awake for this..." He _laughed and pulled one of the levers on the machine._  
  
_She wondered what was going on, and almost instantly she felt a burning, stinging pain rip through her entire body, causing her to spasm involuntarily. She couldn't help but cry out, instinctively trying to double over but couldn't because of the way she was tied down. The painful sensation lasted about ten seconds, and then it stopped. After a two second break, it began again. She screamed once more, spasming again, and through watery eyes noticed the demon laughing at her; taking pleasure in her pain. Gritting her teeth, she took the next wave without uttering a sound, keeping every muscle as stiff as possible. There was no way she was going to give him the satisfaction of watching her screaming and writhing from the pain. But the longer this kept up, the more painful it got to endure, and she found herself wishing for a quick death to put her out of her misery. Anything would be better than this...  
_  
. . .

  
  
Teilen sat up fast, waking up instantly. She found herself in a cold sweat, and shivering slightly. Taking a few breaths, she tried to force the dream out of her mind. It wasn't important right now, anyway. Teilen noticed that the room was now considerably brighter than it was when she had fallen asleep. It must be close to eight o'clock. How could she have slept so late? She was wasting valuable training time!   
  
Glancing sideways, she noticed that the bed beside her was empty. Even Botan was already up. Teilen jumped off the bed, listening for signs of life in the next room. She heard nothing. They must be out training. It looked like she was going to be on her own today, which was just fine with her. She didn't feel much like being nagged by Kurama some more anyway. She walked toward the door and was about to leave the room when suddenly a movement from behind made her whirl back around. "_Ne__-me_?"[2] She gasped slightly in surprise when she saw who was standing in the middle of the room.  
  
He was very tall in stature and muscular as well. His skin was dark blue in color, and his long, unkempt coarse hair bright white. He was clothed in a simple outfit colored silver. He stared at her with cold, intense eyes that matched the color of his clothing and implied thoughts of malevolence. Grinning rancorously, he displayed the many bright white fangs lining his mouth. One glance at him and Teilen knew that he was the dreaded demon, _Khewew__ Hem-teh_.  
  
She immediately took on a fighting stance, and glared at the intruder. If it was a fight he wanted, then he would certainly get one! But then as she watched him, she noticed him flicker a couple times; much like a candle in the wind. She realized then that it was just an image—he was not fully restored to life and therefore not a threat to her just yet. He then surprised her by speaking. His voice was deep, bitter, and seemed to resonate throughout the room:  
  
"Redi _me ne a-ten sened, fen khered. Hesi. Ir tew ib ne re-a'-khet, tew ib ne me-te_."[3] His evil grin turned into a scowl. So he did know that she and the Spirit Detectives were after him.  
  
"Wi _ne__-sep ded ma-baja ne re-a'-khet_,"[4] she was quick to respond, narrowing her eyes at the demon. "_Ini__ set tep_!"[5] Deep down, she knew exactly what she was getting herself into; but it didn't matter how strong_ Khewew Hem-teh_ was. He had to be defeated by any means necessary, Koenma had said, and Teilen had agreed to help out. She wasn't about to go back on her word.  
  
_Khewew__ Hem-teh_ smirked; amused. "_Me ter_,"[6] he replied. Seconds later, he vanished from the room as quickly as he had come, leaving no trace of ever having been there at all.  
  
Teilen relaxed, but only for a second, because just then she noticed a certain vertically-challenged fire demon standing in the corner of the room. She guessed that was the reason _Khewew__ Hem-teh_ had left so hastily; Hiei had seen him. "What are you doing here?" She spat.  
  
He glowered at her and chose to ignore the question. "What the hell was that?"  
  
Teilen had a smart remark all ready for him, but faltered, realizing that she didn't have much of a choice but to tell him. She would be looking pretty suspicious if she just told him to shove off and mind his own business. "_Khewew__ Hem-teh_," she reluctantly responded bitterly. When he continued to look at her expectantly, wanting a full explanation, she sighed impatiently and kept talking. "His life isn't fully restored yet. We still have a few days to prepare."  
  
"Hn." Hiei didn't move from his spot.  
  
"What do you want?" She snapped, becoming annoyed with the fact that he wouldn't leave.  
  
"What were you talking about with him? And you'd better tell the truth; I'll know if you're lying to me." His Jagan glowed blue beneath the white bandana.  
  
"Don't threaten me, _Khewew__ Jeret_! ...It was nothing important anyhow. The _wexa_just thought he would try and scare me out of killing him."  
  
"Which brings me to the next question: how does he know you?"  
  
Teilen growled, "I don't see why it's any of your business."  
  
Hiei growled back, "I don't see why I should trust you. Maybe you're working with him against us."  
  
"How dare you!" Teilen shouted. "I wouldn't lower myself to that level, and besides, I work alone."  
  
Hiei smirked, having realized that he'd struck a nerve. "So start talking."  
  
"Khewew Hem-teh knows me because he is my father!" Teilen angrily responded. "He's a lightning apparition, like me."  
  
"No. You're different," Hiei said, recalling the image of Teilen in her demon form; she had been a much lighter blue than _Khewew__ Hem-teh_ was. "You're half human, aren't you?" He inquired in a mocking tone.  
  
Teilen closed the distance between the two of them so fast that it surprised even Hiei. Before he could react, she had him by the cloak and slammed him into the wall. "One more word about that and I'll make a lightning bolt split your head in half," she upbraided him, through clenched teeth. "You dare make a mockery out of me and it'll be the very last thing you ever do."  
  
He grabbed her hands and ripped them off of him. It was a fairly effortless action, considering he had the advantage in strength. "Touch me again and consider yourself dead!" He retorted, just as the door connecting the two rooms opened.  
  
"What's going on?" Kurama wondered, walking into the room. Teilen stepped away from Hiei, both of them glaring daggers at each other.  
  
"Hn. Why don't you ask the daughter of _Khewew__ Hem-teh_?" Hiei remarked.  
  
"What?" Kurama's surprised eyes shifted to Teilen.  
  
Teilen shot a look of utter revulsion in Hiei's direction. "_Wexa_!" She snapped. She turned swiftly and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her, and for the second time in two days, it fell off its hinges seconds afterwards.  
  
. . .  
  
_ 'That stupid, bastard, wexa fire demon!'_ She thought angrily. 'Just _who does he think he is anyway? Asking me questions like I owe him something, and then blurting out my secret to Kurama...if I had wanted anyone else to know about that, I'd have told them myself. Damn it, I don't want them to know me!'_ She clenched her teeth and scowled at nobody in particular.  
  
Life was so much easier for Teilen when nobody knew her. Since agreeing to help with this mission, she was expected to be social with those Spirit Detectives and share her knowledge with them...and now she would probably have to explain her past to them as well. She mentally cursed again, thinking that she should have never agreed to come in the first place. None of them were going leave her alone after that fight with Hiei, and why should they? Of course they would be curious, and even suspicious of her relation to _Khewew__ Hem-teh_. This was exactly the kind of situation that Teilen had been hoping she wouldn't have to be in, and now here she was. This was all Hiei's fault!  
  
_ 'If he'd just kept his damn mouth shut...'_  
  
Teilen shifted positions. She had been sitting on the edge of the hotel rooftop all day, cursing Hiei to Hell and fuming about the recent events, and now the sun was beginning to set. The horizon was a mix of oranges, yellows, and pinks. In the city below, shadows were taking the place of light. Humans were hurrying home from their jobs, stopping to shop for groceries or for other various errands, and the children gathered to play in the streets after a long, tedious day of school. Teilen pulled herself from her thoughts and watched them with interest for a while, being reminded once again of the fact that she was half human herself. She was often reminded of this, and was constantly bothered by it. She had always considered most humans to be weak and foolish. Ashamed of belonging to a race that she typically tended to shun, Teilen was inclined to look down upon those humans. She did have a little bit of respect for them, though—as much as she would insult them, she was still one of them after all.  
  
Hiei had also found it necessary to poke fun at her lineage, which was another reason why she felt like she hated him.  
  
She was still furious about what had happened a few days before, when he'd had the nerve to walk in on her while she was using the shower. Then he had actually dared to comment on her anatomy: "Well there was nothing worth seeing anyhow!" She knew that this little remark had been aimed at her rather flat chest, and only served to anger her further. Not that she cared about her size—that was least important as far as she was concerned--but the fact that he had tried to insult her in that manner was absolutely infuriating.  
  
Hearing a slight noise that sounded much like footsteps behind her, Teilen turned around to see the ever-calm Kurama standing there; dressed in a blue denim jacket, a white polo shirt and khaki pants. His long red hair waved gently in the slight wind. Teilen gave him an 'oh-it's-just-you' look and turned back to stare at the scenery ahead of her.  
  
"I noticed you have been up here all day," he commented, taking a few steps toward the edge of the roof where she sat.  
  
"Cut the small talk, I know what you want. You—and everybody else—want to know about my relation to _Khewew__ Hem-teh_, am I right?" She continued to gaze straight ahead, fixing her eyes on a small human boy skipping down the sidewalk below.  
  
"Yes, that is correct," Kurama admitted.  
  
"Huh." She watched the little boy stumble and fall to the ground, scraping his knee in the process. He cried out to his mother, who immediately rushed to his side.  
  
Kurama noticed her watching the little scene. "There is nothing wrong with being part human, Teilen. As you can see, it is what I am now, and I do not mind it at all."  
  
She sighed, deciding that he was okay to talk to. Like she really had much of a choice anyway. "My mother was a human. She was born in this very city and so was I," she said, still not looking at him.  
  
"Yes, I thought you were an Egyptian," Kurama replied, as if confirming a suspicion.  
  
Teilen nodded slowly. "My father, _Khewew__ Hem-teh_, was a terrible demon who used to go by the name of Jaiyu. You have probably heard of him. He killed many demons and many more humans, simply because he enjoyed taking life. Power was the one thing he valued above all else, and he thrived on the people's fear of him. A long time ago he was destroyed by the Spirit Detective preceding your Yusuke Urameshi. He had escaped the Makai and ended up here, where he raped a young Egyptian woman—the pharaoh's daughter, to be precise. Before he was destroyed, some of the Egyptian people nicknamed him _Khewew__ Hem-teh_ for 'evil slave', which was meant to be a great insult, and put a curse on him. Meanwhile the woman went through with the pregnancy and had the baby, but sensed evil in it. She unwillingly kept the child for three years, fearing what her people would think of her if she didn't. Finally, after realizing the destruction the child was capable of, she decided to get rid of it. She rode out into the desert one night with that child and abandoned it there, beside one of the pyramids, and never looked back. The child was left to die in that spot, and would have if a small band of demons hadn't come and taken it to the Makai a few nights later," she finished. That was all she was willing to share with him, and he didn't need to know the rest of her story anyway. She finally looked over to Kurama. "I understand that you have to tell the others about this, but make it brief. I don't want them to know any more than they need to."  
  
Kurama folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes, thoughtfully. "Of course. Strange, though..."  
  
"_Ne__-me_?" Teilen cocked an eyebrow in questioning. "What's strange?"  
  
"You and Hiei seem to have a few things in common. He was also abandoned as a child; although in his case, his mother did not wish to give him up."  
  
Upon hearing this, Teilen had to remind herself that she hated Hiei and could never feel sorry for him, though curiousity was nagging at her again. "What happened?" She asked anyway, before she could stop herself.  
  
Kurama bowed his head, as if trying to hide his expression. "You will have to ask him, I'm afraid. He does not speak much of his past, even to me."  
  
Teilen snorted, realizing what Kurama was up to. "Forget it. You're just trying to get me to like him, and it isn't going to work."  
  
"I did not say you had to like him, Teilen. I only wish for you to get along with him. I'm certain we will have enough enemies to face outside our group without the two of you at each other's throats."  
  
Teilen thought about this for a moment, and then smirked. "Well Kurama, if Hiei is willing to apologize, then I am willing to try to get along with him." She said this knowing full well that Hiei would not want to apologize. If Kurama could get him to do that, she would be quite impressed.  
  
Kurama just nodded, accepting the challenge. "Very well," he said. He turned around, with the intention of going back to his room. "It would appear that I have some work to do. Please come inside soon, Teilen," he added before he disappeared down the stairs.  
  
Teilen wondered why he cared so much, but she was also curious about whether or not Hiei would really apologize. She doubted that Kurama could get him to do it. That fire apparition was even more stubborn than she was. Still, it was an amusing thought.  
  
. . .

  
  
"WHAT?" Hiei exploded, after having heard about Teilen's 'deal' from Kurama. They were alone in the guys' hotel room; Hiei sitting on the windowsill and Kurama standing a few feet away from him, looking sly as ever. "Kurama! Don't be a fool, there is no need for me to apologize to anyone!" He glared at his kitsune friend, who only stared back at him with an amused expression.  
  
"Why Hiei, it is only for the good of our team. I think it would be a wise choice to apologize so that we may all get along with each other. The two of you are not expected to be friends, of course."  
  
Hiei growled, "I see no reason why I should be the one to apologize when it's obvious that she started it."  
  
"Don't you think that seems a bit childish?" Kurama questioned, earning himself a disgruntled scowl from his comrade.  
  
"Hn."  
  
"It is very important that everyone is on good terms with each other before we face this demon, Hiei, you know that. Besides," he added with a smirk, "if you talk with her, you might find that you both are very much alike. I just spoke with her a few minutes ago..."  
  
"There is no need to explain," Hiei said, cutting him off. "I heard the whole conversation and her little story. She isn't going to recieve any sympathy from me, if that's what you're getting at."  
  
"Not at all," Kurama answered, innocently. "I just thought that you might be able to relate to her. Please consider apologizing, Hiei. I know that you don't want to, but why not do it as a favor for the rest of us?"  
  
Hiei didn't like the sound of that, either. "Why would I do that?"  
  
Kurama just chuckled. "I thought you would say that. I suppose I could be more convincing if you like..."  
  
"Is that a threat?"  
  
"Absolutely not," he replied. "Just a thought, that's all." He turned around and exited the room, leaving Hiei all by himself to ponder the conversation.  
  
Hiei scowled again. He had no desire to apologize to Teilen when she was just as much at fault as he. So what if he had walked in on her while she was in shower? She had gotten her revenge for that minor mistake when she deliberately walked in on him a few hours afterward. And he felt that his informing Kurama of her relation to _Khewew__ Hem-teh_ was justified—she had no right to keep important information such as that to herself. How did she expect them to trust her if she was keeping things from them?  
  
He had to admit, though, Kurama had a point. If he and Teilen were not going to get along, it would only serve to cause even more problems. But why did he have to apologize? He despised the thought. She probably only wanted him to apologize so that she could watch him suffer. He stubbornly wrestled with these thoughts for about an hour before finally coming to a decision.  
  
Hiei growled in disgust and opened the window he sat next to, hating what he was actually about to do. He made a mental note to himself to kill Kurama for this later, and leapt out of the said window, shooting straight up and landing neatly on the roof of the hotel. The cloudless night sky was now a deep blue, and the moon clearly visible. Hiei could see Teilen on the opposite side, sitting on the edge and staring blankly ahead, seeming to be in deep thought. He was careful to make no sound as he approached her. When he was about five feet from her he cleared his throat loudly, and was pleased to see that he had startled her.  
  
She whirled around and stood up, staring at him with a surprised expression on her face. He could tell that he was the last thing she had expected to see. She still wore the same low, baggy black pants from the day they'd fought, but had traded the black shirt for a white one that looked like it was just a long piece of cloth carelessly wrapped around her top half, exposing even more of her well-toned abdomen. Hiei did his best to ignore this and continued to stand there, hands shoved into his pockets, annoyed at what he had let Kurama talk him into.  
  
"What do you want?" She finally asked, after a long pause while the two had stood and stared at each other.  
  
"Hn," he grunted. "I..." He mumbled the other words, and she could barely hear him.  
  
Amused, she smirked at him. "What did you say?"  
  
"I said I APOLOGIZE, woman!" Hiei snapped back. He crossed his arms and glared at her.  
  
She kept looking at him with the same amused expression, and suddenly she shocked him by smiling, of all things. It was a small one, but a definite smile nonetheless, and it made her deep blue eyes shine. Hiei then surprised himself by actually liking it...then he mentally slapped himself and became angry. How dare she find it funny! This was no laughing matter—he had been practically forced to apologize because of that stupid fox, and now she was smiling about it!  
  
He scowled. "What's so funny?"  
  
The smile was erased from her visage as quickly as it had appeared. "I just didn't think you would actually do this. Kurama must be a miracle-worker."  
  
"Hn."  
  
"You probably didn't mean it. I still hate you, _Khewew__ Jeret_." She smirked.  
  
"And I return the sentiment," he replied.  
  
"I know. But like Kurama said, we should put our differences aside for now. I can do that if you can," she said in a taunting tone.  
  
"Of course I can," he scowled. Who did she think he was, a five year old?  
  
"Good, because I want a re-match." She narrowed her eyes at him. "This time you're going to lose...it's just a shame that I won't be able to kill you."  
  
"Hn," Hiei grunted in reply. "We'll see about that. Let's go—If you can keep up, that is." He instantly disappeared after the last word left his mouth, speeding off to a random place in the desert where the two of them could spar without interruption.  
  
Teilen watched him go and hung back for a second longer. Maybe Kurama had been right about another thing—maybe she should consider giving Hiei another chance. The key word there was 'maybe'... Teilen leapt off the roof, following Hiei to wherever he was going.   
  
. . .  
  
Translations:  
  
[6]_Me ter_ -- "In time"  
  
[5]_Ini__ set tep_ -- "Bring it on"  
  
[4]_Wi__ ne-sep ded ma-baja ne re-a'-khet_ -- "I never say no to battle"  
  
[3]Redi me ne _a-ten sened, fen khered. Hesi. Ir tew ib ne re-a'-khet, tew ib ne me-te_ -- "Give in to your fear, weak child. Turn back. If you wish to battle, you wish to die."  
  
[2]_Ne__-me_? -- "What?"  
  
[1]_Wi__ ib ne sat tew_ -- "I wish to slaughter you"  
  
. . .  
  
AN: FINALLY! This chapter took me a while to write, and I'm sorry to those of you who were left hanging. Blame school—I do. Anyway, this chapter may be a little shorter than what I promised, but I just couldn't make it any longer. I thought of writing about Hiei and Teilen's training session, but there will be plenty of that in the next chapter. I love making those to bicker the way they do, I'm gonna be sad when they don't fight like that any more. Well anyway, review! I need to know what people think!  
  
_Next Chapter: Fully Restored_


	12. Fully Restored

***High Voltage***   
  
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_Chapter Eleven: Fully Restored_  
**************************  
  
  
"You arrogant fool," Hiei said in his usual heartless tone as he flipped over Teilen's head and landed on the ground behind her in a crouching position, rising slowly to his feet. The two of them had found a small oasis to spar at. There were a few trees, some bushes, and a small pond nearby. They were about ten miles into the desert, where nobody would interrupt their training.  
  
She whipped around to face him. "What are you talking about?" She growled.  
  
"Your over-confidence is your biggest flaw," he replied, undaunted.   
  
Teilen scowled. "Don't talk to me like you know me, because you don't."  
  
"I don't have to know you to recognize your errors," Hiei shot back.   
  
Teilen wished she had something sharp with her...oh, the things she would do to him with it. Instead she formed her Spirit Pole in her hand. Hiei already had his weapon ready--he had drawn his katana the second he realized what she was going to do.  
  
"What's the matter, is hand-to-hand combat getting too difficult for you?"  
  
Teilen gave him a look that said 'go die'. "Don't even start. I already said I hate you, and there isn't much you can do or say to make it any worse." That said, she leaped at him and swung her spirit weapon, aiming for his head. She was fast, but Hiei managed to dodge it and it was a good thing he did because if he hadn't he would have lost his head. He appeared behind her and swung the katana upwards, diagonally. She blocked it with her Spirit Pole without even having to turn around, then quickly ducked under her opponent's outstretched arm and kicked him sharply in the ribs. Hiei staggered back a few steps, but didn't fall. He glowered at her. He had received a shock when his weapon connected with hers just like the first time they fought, but this time he had managed to stay on his feet--however he hadn't been ready for the kick she gave him.  
  
_'It won't happen again,'_ he thought to himself. This time, she attacked first, swinging her pole rapidly three times, at three of his vital points. He jumped aside to avoid the first two attempts to injure him and brought his katana above his head to block the third, having seen no other way to escape being hit. He felt the electrical energy as it zapped his hands, and he nearly dropped the katana. It was indeed quite painful and it caused his hands to become temporarily numb, but he wouldn't let it bother him. He had dealt with pain much worse than this many times before. Without missing a beat, Teilen spun around with the Spirit Pole, aiming for his lower back. Before she could hit him, one of Hiei's hands shot out to grab her by the wrist and twist it hard, to the point where it was about to snap. She never uttered a sound, but Hiei could see by the look in her eyes that it hurt her. She let go of the Spirit Pole and it vanished.  
  
"Hn. Ready to give in already?" He growled.  
  
"Shut up," she snapped back, and flipped over sideways so that her wrist became untwisted. She now had Hiei's wrist in a death grip, and smirked at him as she bent his hand backwards into a sickening position. "What a predicament you find yourself in now," she commented.  
  
"You think I'm afraid of a broken bone? Go ahead and break it, I dare you." He sneered into her face.  
  
She stared at him in silence for a minute or two, as if contemplating whether or not she should do it, while Hiei waited to see what she would do. Finally she released her hold on him, gave him a look of pure disgust, and roughly shoved him away. "Idiot," she muttered, and turned to walk away.  
  
Hiei watched her walking away, a bit dumbfounded. This was something he hadn't expected her to do. He had fully expected her to go ahead and break his arm into a dozen different pieces. He quickly caught up to her, reached out and clamped a hand onto her shoulder, spinning her around to face him. "Where do you think you're going? We aren't finished."  
  
She didn't answer him. Instead, she grabbed the hand that was crushing her shoulder and hurled him through the air towards the closest tree. He never hit it, of course. He was easily able to right himself and land neatly on the ground in a crouching position before any damage was done. He rose to his feet, smirking in satisfaction. Teilen glared at him.   
  
"What the hell is your problem?" She demanded.  
  
He crossed his arms. "Hn. You couldn't do it. I guess your bark is worse than your bite."  
  
"What's it matter to you, anyway?" She wanted to kick that stupid smirk off of his face. How dare he say something like that! Just because she didn't break his arm didn't mean she was any less ruthless. She was certain that she could end his life any time she wanted to...if she wanted to.  
  
Hiei slowly walked up to her as he spoke. "You aren't as fearless as I thought you were."  
  
She seized him by the shoulders, since he wasn't wearing a shirt that she could grab onto. "You know what, you are--you're such a...what's that word I'm looking for? Oh right, ASSHOLE!" She yelled in his face. He didn't counter her insult with one of his own...instead he did something that she never expected him to do--he rushed forward using his incredible speed, picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. Speechless, Teilen's first instinct was to break loose, but he had a firm hold on her legs and he was much stronger than she was. Before she knew what was happening, she found herself flying through the air. Unable to stop herself, she prepared for a hard landing...however, that didn't happen. Her landing was cold and very wet. With a _'splash!'_ she went under water, a bit confused, and when she surfaced she realized that Hiei had tossed her into the pond.  
  
She began to tread the water, looking around for Hiei and seeing him standing at the edge of the pond, looking quite satisfied with himself. Her expression immediately turned into a frown, and she dove under the water again. She quickly swam up to where he was and shot a hand out of the water to grab one of his ankles. Not giving him time to react, she pulled him into the water with her, making sure to use extra force so that he went sailing over her head and landed where the water was deepest.  
  
"Ha," she said with a cocky laugh. She waited for him to come to the surface before she rolled out of the water and onto the land. "I'll show you who's bark is worse than her bite, _Khewew__ Jeret_!"  
  
"What the hell are you muttering about?" The wet fire demon demanded. He was about to head towards her general direction when Teilen sat up and held up her right hand, which was crackling with electricity. He stopped. "You wouldn't dare."  
  
"Oh, wouldn't I?" This time it was her turn to smirk. That bastard was going to pay for all those insults she'd had to take from him. She plunged her hand into the water without a second thought and let the electricity loose. She held most of it back...but he did get quite a shock. She watched in amusement as his body violently twitched in the water a few times, his eyes wide. Why hadn't she given him the full shock? She mentally chided herself for going soft on an opponent...especially one who deserved to get a full blast of electricity and have his brains fried.  
  
_'Damn it...why does that bastard have to look so good without a shirt on?'_ She thought before she could stop herself. Embarrassed and disgusted with herself, she averted her gaze from the glaring Hiei, who had quickly recovered from the shock and was quite obviously more than a little irritated.  
  
"You bitch," he growled as he slowly strode out of the pond towards her, droplets of water rolling off his hair and into his glaring crimson eyes. Teilen readied herself to run at any moment, and she couldn't help but let a smirk cross her face. She almost hoped he would chase her...this was rather amusing.  
  
"What are you going to do about it?" She asked, before adding, "_Fen wexa_." She could tell it got on his nerves whenever she called him names that he couldn't understand.  
  
"Hn. I should kill you."  
  
"Then what are you waiting for?" She asked, her smirk growing larger. "Go ahead and try it, I dare you."  
  
A split second after the word 'you' left her mouth Hiei vanished from the spot in the water where he had been standing three feet away from her. Teilen wasn't going to wait around to find out where he had gone and when he was coming back either–she jumped up from where she'd been crouching by the water's edge and zipped through the trees. She knew that Hiei would be able to catch her easily if he really wanted to, and also there wasn't really anywhere to run as the oasis they were training at was rather small. Still, she could try to avoid him as best she could while trying to figure out where he had gone and attack him before he could get to her.  
  
For a few minutes she neither heard nor saw anything that could give her a hint as to what had happened to him. Becoming a bit bored, she scaled the nearest tree and was about to check her surroundings when suddenly a black mass traveling at a very high velocity crashed into her from behind, dragging her down to the ground. The next thing she knew, Hiei was sitting on her back, pinning her elbows to the ground and though she couldn't see his face, she knew he was smirking.  
  
"Too easy," he remarked, a hint of cockiness in his emotionless tone.  
  
Teilen, who's face was pressed into the dirt at that particular moment, only rolled her eyes–sure he had the top half of her pinned, but he had foolishly forgotten about her legs. And kicking was one of her favorite moves. "Idiot, I'm a lot more flexible than you may think," she informed him just before he felt a boot collide with his skull, which caused him to roll off of her seeing stars. Teilen took that opportunity to gain the upper hand as she rolled onto him and put him into a tight headlock, making sure that he was having a hard time breathing because of it. Then she kneed him in the back.  
  
"That's for knocking me out of the tree," she told him. He got to his feet, causing her to rise the slightest bit off the ground, and then he flipped her over, tossing her to the ground and then kicking her in the side.  
  
"That's for–" he began, but she caught the foot that kicked her just as he was bringing it back and pulled him down to the ground again. Suddenly, just as Hiei landed in the most awkward position he could possibly be in, Kurama chose that exact moment to make his entrance.  
  
"Oh dear..." he blushed slightly upon seeing Hiei on top of Teilen. "I must apologize for my intrusion."  
  
Hiei jumped up quicker than you could blink, and Teilen did as well, her face tinted pink with embarrassment. "It's not what you think," Hiei scowled.  
  
"We were training," Teilen added. "Nothing more."  
  
"Hn," Hiei grunted in agreement.  
  
Kurama shrugged, amusement sparkling in his eyes but the rest of his face remaining serious. "If you insist. I came to inform you two that there is something very strange happening with the pyramid. Yusuke, Kuwabara and I were just about to go investigate it if you would like to come along."  
  
"Not like I have a choice," Teilen muttered under her breath. "Fine, let's go." She zipped past him and headed off to catch up with the others.  
  
Kurama watched Hiei collect his cloak and katana. "So I see that the both of you are getting along much better now."  
  
"Don't read too much into it, kitsune," Hiei responded as he threw the cloak around his shoulders and put away his sword. "I had to train with somebody, and it might as well have been her. After this mission I'll never have to look at her again." With that he turned and stalked off ahead of Kurama.  
  
  
. . .  
  
  
"Whoa..." Yusuke's eyes grew big as he looked up at the sight before him. Everyone was gathered out in the desert in front of the pyramid, trying to decide what they should do and gawking at the new sight. The red lightning had grown to mile high streaks that danced around the pyramid and threatened to touch the ground, while directly above it there was a very large black orb swirling and flickering in the midst of all the lightning.  
  
"I think it's almost time," Botan said.  
  
"Yeah, I'd say so," Kuwabara agreed. "You guys, I have a feeling our vacation isn't gonna end very good..."  
  
"Fool," Hiei spat. "This isn't a vacation!"  
  
"Quit callin' me a fool, Shrimp! I should squish you under my boot for saying that."  
  
"Hn, as if you could, you incompetent."  
  
Kuwabara glared at him. "I could too! You're ego is almost too big for you to handle, Hiei."  
  
Hiei narrowed his eyes at Kuwabara. "If I wanted your opinion, I'd beat it out of you."  
  
"Will you two shut the hell up!?" Teilen snapped as she stepped forward, appearing to be listening to something.  
  
"What is it?" Kurama wondered.  
  
"I hear him," she answered, her voice low and dripping with bitter hatred. She tilted her head slightly to the side. "He's inviting us to come inside. He's mocking us..." Her eyes narrowed and she clenched her fists at her sides.  
  
"Well how do we get in?" Yusuke wondered. "I mean it's not like there's a do–" He was cut of as, at that exact moment, the outline of a rectangular door appeared on the front of the pyramid and slowly began to slide open, spilling dust from the cracks and blowing it all towards them. "Huh, cool," Yusuke remarked.  
  
Without another word to the rest of them, Teilen marched forward and disappeared through the door into the darkness. A few seconds afterwards, Hiei followed. Kurama turned to Botan.  
  
"I think it may be best if you wait out here for our return," he said to her.  
  
"Alright, if you're sure..." Botan shrugged.  
  
Kurama nodded before glancing at Yusuke and Kuwabara. "Are you ready?"  
  
"Ready as I'll ever be," Yusuke replied. He jabbed Kuwabara. "C'mon, let's go kick some Aztec butt!" With that he raced towards the entrance after Kurama.  
  
Kuwabara rolled his eyes as he followed the Spirit Detective into the pyramid. "It's Egyptian, Urameshi! Egyptian! Don't you know ANYTHING?"  
  
Botan smiled slightly as she watched them go. It was good to see them so enthusiastic, but the enthusiasm would not last. She just hoped they knew what they were doing, and that they were going to make it alright...  
  
  
. . .  
  
  
AN: OMG I UPDATED THIS!! *ducks the many flying items aimed at her head* Yes I know I KNOW I'm sooo sorry! I left ya'll hanging back there and just decided to take a break on this fic for, oh, I dunno...was it three months now? I don't even remember! I'll be surprised if anyone hasn't given up on this fic. Well I only have a few more chapters to go, so hopefully I'll get 'em done soon and then I'll be finished with this story. I hate leaving things unfinished, that I do! ^_^  
  
_Next Chapter: Army of the Undead_


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